Discovering Thomas White: One Man's Flight from Slavery to Freedom on the Sea

Hidden away for more than 150 years, a 40-page hand-stitched document was discovered on the back porch of a Barrington home two years ago. The words, written in fading ink from the 1800s, reveal the story of a 15-year-old boy named Thomas White who succeeded, against all odds, in emancipating himself from enslavement. Supported by a network of abolitionists between Maryland and Boston, he went on to become a ship's cook and travel the world. This document has been the focus of a continuing research effort to place Thomas White's story in context with the historical record and to seek out his living relatives, if they exist. This presentation will lift the curtain on Thomas' remarkable life and delve into the central research questions. 

The speakers include:

Novelist and nonprofit leader Cindy Elder, whose family found the document in her in-laws' home. She is the author of the newly published…