Tubman Museum exhibit sheds light on runaway slave ads in Macon’s history

“Freedom Seekers: Runaway Slave Advertisements in the Macon Telegraph” on display until March 22.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — Glimpses into what it took to break free from slavery are on display at the Tubman Museum this month.

In the “Freedom Seekers: Runaway Slave Advertisements in the Macon Telegraph” exhibit, guests will find old newspaper ads placed by slave owners, looking to find enslaved people who ran away.

According to Jeffrey Bruce, the curator for the Tubman Museum, the ads would include the enslaved person’s name and description and sometimes the promise of a cash reward.

Bruce said ads like this date back to the founding of Macon in 1826, and they stopped around the end of the Civil War in 1865.

The exhibit was put together by students from Mercer University.

It will stay up until March 22.

Bruce tells 41NBC an upcoming exhibit will focus on, “The Lives of Free People of Color in Macon” at a later date.