Establishing contextual authenticity, seeking identities, & listening to voices.

Some examples:

Samuel “Aleckson” Williams (1852-1946)

Who was “Sam Aleckson” who published a memoir about surviving a life of childhood bondage under a fake name? I reveal his true identity (Samuel Williams) for the first time to the public in my digital exhibit and also explore his life in more length in my annotated version of his narrative, Before the War and After the Union (1929). I collaborated with his descendants to flesh out his full and complicated life story. This is the first time his story could be told with his name on the cover. Here you see him pictured with his grandson.

James Matthews (@1807-1886)

Who told this harrowing and anonymous story of slavery, torture, and triumph in Recollections of Slavery by a Runaway Slave (1838)? Invoking archival detective work, I found him, discovered a previously unknown sequel to his narrative and reconnected two communities. Learn his name, James Matthews, and read about the free life he built in Maine in an essay I wrote for Commonplace: a journal of early American life.

My discovery of Matthew’s name and life story inspired Chris Cart, an artist in Hallowell, Maine to create an imagined portrait of James Matthews on a tremendous mural of the town’s history. The image above is Cart’s beautifully rendered depiction of Matthews.

William Grimes (@1784-1865)

Thanks to my research, this early and powerful fugitivity narrative of 1825 can now be firmly understood as the first book-length work copyrighted in the United States by an African American author.

The award-winning documentary film, Gina’s Journey features Regina Mason’s life-long investigations into uncovering the story of her ancestor, William Grimes. I worked with her as a participant, consultant, and on-screen commentator.