Abolition & Industrialization: The Churches and Paper Mills of Springfield, Massachusetts

The project website can be accessed here and a report on Abolition & Industrialization can be found here

Years before the fabled abolitionist John Brown attempted to raid Harpers Ferry and launch a national slave revolt, he spent his formative years in Springfield, Massachusetts. The seat of Western Mass. and the crossroads of New England, Springfield was defined by radical abolitionist sentiment in the mid-19th century. As paper mills and machine shops cropped up around the city, John Brown met with the famous abolitionists Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth, but he also lived among everyday Springfielders, including Black property owners, pastors, and soldiers. This project, “Abolition & Industrialization in Springfield, MA,” seeks to expose, map, and analyze Springfield’s racial history in the mid-19th century, with a focus on the lives of Black residents.

Researcher: Noah Secondo

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