Gregory O’ Malley – The Escapes of David George

Bookshop welcomes prize-winning historian and UC Santa Cruz professor Gregory O’Malley for a discussion about his new book The Escapes of David George: An Odyssey of Slavery, Freedom, and the American Revolution—the dramatic story of a Black man’s relentless search for freedom in Revolutionary America.

This book tells the story of David George who in 1762 at the age of 19 escaped from a plantation in Virginia thus becoming a fugitive enslaved person. Using archival records and David’s own brief account of his life, which is the earliest written testimony by a fugitive enslaved person in North America, the book tells the story of David George’s relentless search for freedom in Revolutionary-era America and presents a unique perspective on our nation’s origins, principles, and contradictions.

Piecing together archival records and David George’s own brief account of his life—the earliest written testimony by a fugitive enslaved person in North America—Gregory O’Malley presents a thrilling narrative and a unique perspective on our nation’s origins, principles, and contradictions.

Gregory E O’Malley is professor of history at UC Santa Cruz and the author of The Escapes of David George: An Odyssey of Slavery, Freedom, and the American Revolution. His first book, Final Passages: The Intercolonial Slave Trade of British America, 1619-1807, won the Forkosch, Rawley, Owsley, and Elsa Goveia awards. He is a key contributor to the SlaveVoyages.org, consulted on The 1619 Project, and lectures widely on the slave trade and related subjects.

Cosponsored by The Humanities Institute