It’s no secret that New Bedford played a critical role in the Underground Railroad in the years leading up to the Civil War.
New Bedford Historical Society President Lee Blake and UMass Dartmouth history professor Timothy Dale Walker have done important new research fleshing out just how critical the city’s role was, both in the leaders who thought and worked here, and the city’s role as a major port where formerly enslaved people came.
Blake’s work on New Bedford’s leadership during the abolition movement has led the way for the soon-to-be-opened Abolition Row Park and Walker’s work on the study and exhibit Sailing to Freedom has shed new light on the large role maritime escape to ports like New Bedford played.
Blake and Walker joined New Bedford Light columnist Jack Spillane for the latest episode of The Chat. Watch their fascinating and illuminating conversation.
No easy way out of budget crisis
Experts Adam Chapdelaine and Phineas Baxandall joined Light columnist and host of The Chat Jack Spillane to examine the statewide crisis and New Bedford’s predicament: a $32 million budget deficit.
O’Leary, DeLoach, Furtado Jr. working together for New Bedford students
The leaders of the city’s public schools joined the conversation to discuss collaboration and working toward a common goal. Watch the entire Chat.
Mitchell on his goals for the city, the budget, and immigration enforcement
In an hour-long one-on-one with The Light, the mayor hit on everything from education to wind to police to standing up for New Bedford.