There are a large number of websites and databases that contain hundreds and even thousands of ‘runaway advertisements’. This project differs in that it features ‘stories’ about the enslaved that are based on advertisements. We welcome submission of essays of between 500 and 1,000 words, based on research and informed speculation about what we can learn from an advertisement and whatever other relevant sources the author might locate. We can never know the lives, the beliefs, the hopes, and dreams of the enslaved people who dared to be free, but we can speculate and imagine, exploring what might have been. The essays are not fictional, although in the assignments and ideas we have for college and school students there are ideas for more imaginative work.
While this project is particularly interested in freedom seekers during the era of the American Revolution, we welcome submission stories from the period between the 1650s and 1815, and from all across the British Atlantic World.
- Style Guide Please see our Style Guide for details of format and style, and instructions for submission. All essays will be reviewed and edited by members of the project team, and we hope to publish as many as possible by the July 2026, when the project will conclude.
- Language Guide The project team will do all that they can to ensure that stories we accept for publication on the website use appropriate language and are respectful in tone and content, and as far as is possible the team will check all research references. For more on language use, please see our Language Guide.