This site documents the challenge to slavery and the quest for freedom in early Washington, D.C., by collecting, digitizing, making accessible, and analyzing freedom suits filed between 1800 and 1862,
as well as tracing the multigenerational family networks they reveal.
Explore the web of litigants, jurists, attorneys, and community members present in case files from the Circuit Court for the District of Columbia and other related documents. Browse or search for individuals and discover their social connections.
Explore kinship and family networks of multigenerational black, white, and mixed families of early Washington, D.C. These networks have been created using information derived from the court records, as well as genealogical research.
Explore hundreds of freedom cases from the Circuit Court for the District of Columbia between 1800 and 1862, as well as Maryland state courts and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Follow and read interactive analysis of the court cases, families, attorneys, and judges. Each story focuses on an historical or legal question raised by these cases, and interweaves all references to people, cases, documents, and family relationships.
This site features deep relationship mapping of early Washington, D.C., showing how each person is connected to other people in the city and beyond. Explore the connections.
