Historian to discuss Reverse Underground Railroad June 30

The Lewes Public Library, the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice and Browseabout Books will welcome Professor Richard Bell for a discussion and signing of his book “Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home,” at 5 p.m., Thursday, June 30, in person at the library and via Zoom.

Bell’s riveting, expertly researched book explores the Reverse Underground Railroad, a multi-headed criminal enterprise flowing in the opposite direction of the Underground Railroad. Squads such as Sussex County’s Cannon-Johnson Gang kidnapped free Black Americans, often children, in the North and sold them into a lifetime of enslavement in the Deep South. In “Stolen,” Bell tells the true story of five free Black boys in the North who were lured by kidnappers with the promise of food and pay, only to be smuggled to the South to be sold into slavery – and their daring attempt to escape and bring their captors to justice.

During required registration, participants will be asked to select virtual or in-person attendance. To sign up, go to tinyurl.com/zoomwithauthors or lewes.lib.de.us.

Bell is an Andrew Carnegie Fellow at the University of Maryland, where he specializes in early American history. He has been awarded more than a dozen teaching prizes and received several major research fellowships, including the National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar Award. “Stolen,” published in 2019, was a finalist for the George Washington Prize and the Harriet Tubman Prize.

Participants are encouraged to support the authors by purchasing a copy of the book from local independent bookstore Browseabout Books. Each copy will be signed. Orders may be placed online at browseaboutbooks.com, by calling the store at 302-226-2665, or in person at 133 Rehoboth Ave., Rehoboth Beach. Books will also be available for purchase and signing at the event for in-person attendees.