Twenty-Eight Years a Slave. or, My Life in Three Continents - the Life and Times of Thomas Lewis Johnson
Nov
17

Twenty-Eight Years a Slave. or, My Life in Three Continents - the Life and Times of Thomas Lewis Johnson

Twenty-Eight Years a Slave, Or, The Story of My Life on Three Continents is a meditation on what freedom demands after emancipation. Born enslaved in Virginia, Thomas Lewis Johnson survived twenty-eight years of captivity before forging an improbable life that carried him across North America, Great Britain, and West Africa. Published in 1909 and largely forgotten since, Johnson’s memoir is at once a slave narrative, a missionary autobiography, a travel account, and a stunning scrapbook of a life lived in motion.

 Come join for a free public talk at 3pm on Tuesday, November 17th in the Byrnes Room in the Clemson Unviersity library

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Kennebec Historical Society
Feb
18

Kennebec Historical Society

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.

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A Plausible Man
Nov
21

A Plausible Man

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

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Clemson University Libraries hosts Susanna Ashton for A Plausible Man book talk
Nov
7

Clemson University Libraries hosts Susanna Ashton for A Plausible Man book talk

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)

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Solid State Books
Aug
20

Solid State Books

[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.

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