Lecture by James M. Beidler

This is a virtual recording of our spring lecture series kickoff with a special talk in conjunction with Black History Month focusing on the difficult topic of Pennsylvania German enslavers. Scholarly comments on the Pennsylvania Germans and slavery have ranged anywhere from assertions that “Germans generally held no slaves” to claims that “more Germans in Colonial Philadelphia were enslavers than other groups.” Explore the reality with speaker James M. Beidler, a Pennsylvania German researcher and genealogist, who will use his own family history as a case study. Beidler will also delve into Pennsylvania's Gradual Abolition Act of 1780 and its legacy.

The spring lecture series is sponsored by the Concordia Trust.

Photo credit: Record Group 26, Records of the Department of State
Bureau of Commissions, Elections, and Legislation
Engrossed Laws (series #26.57)
Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
Pennsylvania State Archives