Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad

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Between 1830 and 1860, Underground Railroad operatives in New York City helped more than 3,000 fugitive slaves reach freedom at the hands of three unsung historical figures: Sydney Howard Gay, an abolitionist newspaper editor; Louis Napoleon, a furniture polisher; and Charles B. Ray, a black minister. Distinguished scholars shed new light on the Underground Railroad, elevating it from folklore to sweeping history.

Eric Foner is DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Bancroft Prize, Lincoln Prize, and many others. His most recent book is Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad. Randall Kennedy (moderator), a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, is Michael R. Klein Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.

The Robert H. Smith Auditorium at the New-York Historical Society.