Gateway to Freedom

Archival Summary & Scope

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Eric Foner masterfully reconfigures the history of the Underground Railroad, elevating it from folklore to a sweeping historical account. Foner reveals New York City as a critical, dangerous hub where, even after abolition, slave catchers roamed amidst a burgeoning free Black community. Here, Black and white abolitionists formed vigilance committees, establishing clandestine networks that defied hostile laws to help enslaved people escape.

Drawing on newly discovered evidence, including Sydney Howard Gay’s secret records of slave escapes, Foner illuminates how these agents helped over 3,000 individuals reach freedom between 1830 and 1860. This inspiring, character-rich narrative details the "practical abolition" that inflamed the sectional crisis of the 1850s, showcasing the courageous, person-by-person fight against American slavery.