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Patrick Leary

This NYT article about the long-debated origins of the term "Underground Railroad" is a good example of how digitization of old newspapers is reshaping our understanding of the 19th century. An online search led to this discovery. tinyurl.com/4ezr27m6

The New York TimesOpinion | How the Underground Railroad Got Its NameBy Scott Shane

@patrickleary “There were, of course, no actual underground railroads at the time; Mr. Zell was referring sarcastically to a nonexistent, futuristic means of travel, just as we might quip that a person who suddenly vanished must have been teleported to another city or kidnapped by aliens.”

@patrickleary we seem to be building the final encyclopedia.

@patrickleary 🧵Underground Railroad

“Mr. Smallwood told the man, “It was your cruelty to him, that made him disappear by that same ‘under ground rail-road’ or ‘steam balloon,’ about which one of your city constables was swearing so bitterly a few weeks ago, when complaining that the ‘d----d rascals’ got off so, and that no trace of them could be found!”