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MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY BUILDS GLOBAL SLAVE TRADE PAPER TRAIL

March 11, 2018 College of Arts and Humanities

How Michigan State is compiling the global slave trade's paper trail.

By Brian Dugger | The Toledo Blade

"EAST LANSING, Mich. — An 1853 newspaper ad placed in Jornal do Commercio by Brazilian entrepreneur Damaso Antonio de Moura was the final piece to a puzzle that had perplexed Maryland history professor Daryle Williams for months.

"The ad in the Brazilian publication sought help in tracking down a runaway slave named José Congo, who had a wooden leg. Using the biographical information in the ad, Mr. Williams identified him as a man who was enslaved in west Africa in 1833. The man was illegally trafficked to Brazil, where he eventually had his leg amputated and replaced with a wooden peg leg before escaping."

Read the complete article in The Toledo Blade.

Image: A watercolor of a slave ship by an unknown artist. Virginia Foundation for the Humanities via the Toledo Blade