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History Deep Dives In-Person
The Carnegie Center and Central Branches of the Floyd County Public Library are pleased to offer "History Deep Dives," a monthly daytime history speaker series. Programs are held on the 2nd Tuesday of the month and will alternate between the Carnegie Center and the Central Branch. The first of this series will be held at the Carnegie Center and will feature local historian Pam Peters and her talk "Floyd County Freedom and Manumission Papers."
While researching in the Floyd County Recorder’s Office in New Albany, Pam Peters found many 19th century records pertaining to African Americans. These miscellaneous court documents include Proof of Freedom records, Manumission Papers and Bills of Sale. The records are full of information about owners freeing their slaves, those seeking freedom for themselves and family members and of those seeking verification of free status, necessary after passage of the Indiana Exclusion Act of 1851. Reading through these documents is a very moving experience. They can be found summarized in the Appendix of Pam’s book “The Underground Railroad in Floyd County, Indiana."