The Three Lives of Anthony Burns

As part of the exhibit, "Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land": Boston Abolitionists, 1831-1865 (through May 24), the Massachusetts Historical Society will hold an “Exhibition Spotlight” by the Society’s Peter Durmmey on a major episode in the history of the Fugitive Slave Law, The Three Lives of Anthony Burns, this Friday, May 3, at 2:00 pm.  The Society explains:

Credit: Library of Congress

The rendition of Anthony Burns—his return from Boston to slavery in 1854—was a turning point in the Abolitionist struggle. But who was Anthony Burns? A fugitive slave? A symbol of the antislavery cause in Boston? What happened to him after he was freed and his celebrity faded? We will explore the heroic, and tragic, life of Anthony Burns through documents on display at the Society.