This Zoom talk traces the life and afterlife of an enslaved man whose voice survives
in an anonymously published slave narrative first printed in Maine in 1838.
Long dismissed or left unexplored, Professor Susanna Ashton discovered his
true identity first by discovering the name Jim and then as James Matthews. His testimony can be reassembled through careful attention to detail, place,
and archival context. Beginning with Jim’s harrowing account of enslavement
in South Carolina and his escape north, the presentation follows his arrival in Maine and argues that Hallowell became the final and most consequential site
of his life. Drawing on abolitionist newspapers published in Hallowell, census records, poor farm records, cemetery evidence and his own testimony, Ashton demonstrates that Jim can be confidently identified with James Matthews, a Black man who lived his final decades in Hallowell and is buried there. Rather than offering a seamless biography, the talk reflects on the ethical work of historical recovery when lives are recorded unevenly. Centering Hallowell as both an abolitionist publishing hub and a place of refuge, this program invites
the community to consider how local records preserve Black presence,
suffering, endurance, and belonging, and why these fragments matter to
history today.

KHS presenter, Susanna Ashton is a Professor of English at Clemson University and a scholar of nineteenth-century American literature and slavery. She is the author of A Plausible Man. The True Story of the Enslaved Man who Inspired Uncle Tom’s Cabin and a specialist in authorship, and the testimony
of witness. She regularly writes and speaks for both academic and public audiences, with research focused on recovering the lives of formerly enslaved people through archives, newspapers, and local history.

Ashton’s presentation will be posted on the society’s Facebook page on February 18, 2026. For more information, call Scott Wood, the society’s executive director, at 622-7718.

Book talk on Zoom with the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center of Cincinnati, Ohio - details pending

Join me for an online book talk about A Plausible Man sponsored by the American Antiquarian Society on July 24th at 7pm. Free for anyone to register for!

https://www.americanantiquarian.org/node/12909

A zoom event for the public hosted by the Maine Historical Society of beautiful Portland

Come join us at the absolutely charming historic Pendleton Bookshop on the square in central Pendleton for a book signing (5:30) and talk (6pm). Come early to browse a bit and pick up some holiday gifts! More details TBA

Come join us at 6pm on Thursday, November 14th for a friendly Zoom Presentation about A Plausible Man - John Andrew Jackson fled South Carolina and hid in Brunswick - come learn the story

Come join me at the Clemson University Watts Center auditorium for a free talk organized by The Clemson University Libraries with help from the Clemson College of Arts and Humanities and the ever-supportive Clemson Department of English - I'll have some books to sign before and after the event. Students are MOST welcome (and no book purchase is necessary, of course)

A conversation with Dr. Susanna Ashton and Dr. Rhondda R. Thomas about A Plausible Man

M.Judson Booksellers

130 S Main St, Suite 200A
Greenville, SC 29601

864-603-2412

I'll thrilled to share some of my misadventures and triumphs of archival strategies with a talk about John Andrew Jackson for the Victorians Institute

[Please note that this will be held at the H street branch of the Bookstore] Join me for a Washington DC talk about A Plausible Man. The True Story of the Escaped Slave Who Inspired Uncle Tom’s Cabin at Solid State Books, a terrific independent Black-owned neighborhood bookstore. Dr. April Logan of Salisbury University will be the interlocutor. And to make the event exceptionally special, John Andrew Jackson’s descendant family will attend, and family representative, Dock Clavon, will be in conversation.

Ablaze: The 1849 White Supremacist Attack on the Pendleton Post Office

PENDLETON PUBLIC LIBRARY AT 6 PM

Why Should A Library Invest in You? : A Brown Bag Presentation on Strategies for Success with Library and Archival Grants for a Digital Age