A Black man gains his freedom and helps others escape slavery in 'Flee North'

In a special Midday broadcast for Black History Month, we revisit our conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Scott Shane. He retired from the Times in 2019 and dove into a very different kind of project: a book that tells the story of the extraordinary Thomas Smallwood. The book is Flee North: A Forgotten Hero and the Fight for Freedom in Slavery’s Borderland. Born into slavery, Smallwood purchased his freedom and helped hundreds of other enslaved people escape their bondage in the Baltimore-Washington area. He capped off these successful escapes by taunting slave holders in print. Along the way, Smallwood coined the term “underground railroad.” Shane wrote a compelling, meticulously researched book seeking to catapult Thomas Smallwood out of historical obscurity and into the light of recognition he deserves.