In the years before the Civil War, many enslaved people found freedom in Mexico, where slavery was abolished 36 years before the Emancipation Proclamation. In the first of a two-part series on Freedom Fighters, Eva and Maite explore the Southern route of the Underground Railroad and meet Silvia Webber, often referred to as the Harriet Tubman of Texas. They welcome Dr. Maria Hammack, a scholar and historian whose work bridges histories of liberation and abolition, Sofia Bravo and OJ and Leslie Treviño of the Webber Family Preservation Project to the show.

• Webber Family Preservation Project: http://wfpptx.org/projects.html#/
• Dr. María Esther Hammack: https://mariaestherhammack.me
• Texas Runaway Slave Project: https://digital.sfasu.edu/digital/collection/RSP