MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY BUILDS GLOBAL SLAVE TRADE PAPER TRAIL
March 11, 2018
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