Emilie Amt

Historian

WBAL covers Hagerstown’s Underground Railroad trail

African-American History, Press / by / 2 Comments

On a very cold day in January, WBAL-TV (Baltimore) reporter Kim Dacey came out to Hagerstown to talk with Convention and Visitors Bureau president Dan Spedden and with me, about Hagerstown’s Underground Railroad trail.

Watch the full story here.

Check out Hagerstown’s Underground Railroad trail and walking tour brochure here.

About Emilie Amt

Emilie Amt is a retired professor of history. From 1998 to 2021 she held the Hildegarde Pilgram Chair of History at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland. She earned a B.A. in medieval studies from Swarthmore College and a D.Phil. in modern history from Oxford University. Her current research focuses on nineteenth-century African American history in western Maryland.

Her forthcoming book about African American experiences of the Battle of Antietam will be published in summer 2022 by The History Press. She is also working on a history of slavery in Washington County, Maryland. A medieval historian by training, she has published books and articles on medieval religious women and English government, war, and finance. Her books include college textbooks and scholarly editions of Latin texts.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kathy Lynne Marshall

    Hi Emilie,

    Thanks for continuing your great work bringing the history of enslaved people in Hagerstown to light. I enjoyed wathing this video about the underground railroad trail there. My interest was piques when you wpoke about a woman named Anne Henson who left her “employer.” Do you know if she was related to William Henson, who married Prince William’s widow, Margaret Williams? They lived in Prince’s property in Funkstown until Margaret died there in 1868. I’m trying to find out more about the Henson family, and whether they came from the HAnsons in Kent COunty, Maryland.

    Thanks, Kathy Lynne Marshall

    Reply

    • Emilie Amt

      Hi Kathy,
      Thank you for your kind words. Unfortunately I don’t know anything about Ann Henson’s background, except that she was also known by the name Adelaide Overton. The New York City Underground Railroad records give her both names. Maybe she changed her name from one to the other after she escaped, or maybe she went by one and her enslaver called her the other? I don’t know how she came into Victor Thompson’s hands; I haven’t found a bill of sale or any other documents. It seems that only the escape itself is well documented.
      Emilie

      Reply

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