Howe Lecture: "Abolition and the Underground Railroad in Maine," by Mary Tibbetts Freeman

Join us on Thursday, June 19 (Juneteenth) for a talk by Mary T. Freeman, Assistant Professor of New England History at the University of Maine, on "Abolition and the Underground Railroad in Maine," co-sponsored by the Hastings Homestead Museum and the Museums of the Bethel Historical Society.

Mary T. Freeman is assistant professor of history at the University of Maine. Her field is the nineteenth-century United States, with a focus on the history of slavery and abolition. Her work also explores abolitionism, African American history, and women’s history in Maine and New England. She received her PhD from Columbia University in 2018. Her forthcoming book, "Abolitionists and the Politics of Correspondence," will be published by University of Pennsylvania Press in February 2026.

This presentation will briefly explore the long history of slavery and emancipation in Maine before focusing on antislavery activism in the decades leading up to the Civil War. Professor Freeman will pay particular attention to the role of African Americans in advancing the cause of abolition in Maine and the complicated relationship between myth and historical fact in understanding Mainers’ involvement in the Underground Railroad.

You may also like the following events from Hastings Homestead Museum:

• This July, 5th July, 10:00 am, Western Maine History Fair in Bethel

Also check out other Nonprofit events in Bethel.