Dr. Alicestyne Turley

Gospel of Freedom: Black Evangelicals and the Underground Railroad explores the existence of an organized, interracial Underground Railroad freedom network below the Mason-Dixon Line. Gospel of Freedom examines the formation of organized networks of assisted slave escape established prior to the Revolutionary War, which continued until close of the Civil War. Once escaping slaves surfaced beyond Kentucky borders, these invisible “tracks” of freedom became visible in the North as an “Underground Railroad” highlighted by Wilbur Siebert’s 1898 work, The Underground Railroad From Slavery to Freedom. Rather than viewing escapes from slavery as an isolated narrative informed by white, northern abolitionists, Gospel of Freedom examines slave complicity in and active construction of a southern, freedom network which resulted in the formation of black communities, religious, economic, political, and social institutions. The Underground Railroad has been defined as America’s first multicultural, multiracial, inclusive civil rights movement which successfully changed the course of American history, expanded the rules of American citizenship, and aided in creation of American civil liberties. As such, Gospel of Freedom has wide appeal to differing audiences, age groups, religious and social backgrounds, use in scholarly research, and those devoted to seeking a deeper understanding of American political and social history.