Prof. Keel comments on lecture on the ‘Underground Railroad’

Historian Eric Foner spoke at UCSB on Tuesday March 3

From an article in the UCSB Current:

Foner’s talk focuses on his latest book, “Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad.” It will begin on March 3 at 5 p.m in UCSB’s Campbell Hall. It is free and open to the public.

“I think the significance of Foner’s talk is his trying to carve out an argument about how widespread the Underground Railroad was,” said Terence Keel, assistant professor at UCSB, jointly appointed in the Black Studies and history departments. “But more than that, the Underground Railroad was a coalitional political project that involved African Americans who had run away, as well as white abolitionists and Quakers who were actively working together to create this network of support.”

According to Keel, Foner’s talk will assist students in understanding the relevance of a history from which many of them feel far removed. “There’s an assumption that what happened 150 years ago really doesn’t have any bearing on their lives today,” Keel said. “And I think that’s unfortunate because the Underground Railroad is a story about black and white solidarity in the struggle for freedom and justice, and this is a consistent feature of African American history and American history in general.”

See more at: Gateway to Freedom in the UCSB Current, by Andrea Estrada.

hm 2/28/15, 3/8