The Underground Railroad in Texas

A lecture by Kyle Ainsworth

Texas is rarely mentioned in the stories recounted of how liberation was pursued by African Americans. Our state’s landscape is bare of monuments to resistance and flight, of the names or narratives of enslaved people who liberated themselves or died trying. When Texans think of emancipation, Juneteenth is likely what comes to mind—the holiday commemorating the 1865 date when Union soldiers landed in Galveston and announced emancipation. However, post emancipation, once in Mexico, the formerly enslaved continued to face many challenges and experienced freedom that was very conditional. The story of liberty in our state is much larger than Juneteenth and it started long before June 19, 1865. Join DHS for a fascinating program about these unknown settlements.

About the speaker

Kyle Ainsworth has worked as a special collections librarian at SFA since 2011. His job is to organize archival collections as well as help students, faculty and community members with their archival research. Kyle has been researching slavery in Texas since 2012 and has successfully launched two projects—the Texas Runaway Slavery Project and the Lone Star Slavery Project. Look for an article featuring his research in an upcoming issue of Smithsonian magazine.