What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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BECCA MARTIN-BROWN NWA Democrat-Gazette N elson Hackett exists only in accounts written by other people. There is no record of any of his own words. Neither is there an image of his face. But Hackett's story illustrates how one man's legacy can be researched and resurrected 180 years later. Hackett, who was an enslaved resident of Fayetteville in 1841, is the topic of a Sandwiched In program by Dr. Michael Pierce Feb. 17 at the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History via Zoom. Pierce, an associate professor of history at the University of Arkansas, is from Columbus, Ohio, and earned his doctorate in U.S. history at Ohio State. "While in grad school, I met my wife and followed her to the University of Arkansas after she took a position teaching [and] researching Russian history," Pierce picks up the story. "The University of Arkansas history department put me to work teaching Arkansas history and helping edit the Arkansas Historical Quarterly. "As a labor historian by training, I have always been interested in the ways that Americans work and the systems in which they produce goods," he continues. "The study of slavery is central to labor history — not only because enslaved people were forced to work but also because slavery affected other forms of employment." Pierce stumbled on to the story of Nelson Hackett when he read Roman Zorn's "An Arkansas Fugitive Slave Incident and Its International Repercussions" in Volume 16 of the Arkansas Historical Quarterly, published back in 1957. FEBRUARY 14-20, 2021 WHAT'S UP! 3 FAQ Sandwiched In: 'Nelson Hackett's Escape from Fayetteville and Slavery' WHEN — Noon Feb. 17 WHERE — Shiloh Museum of Ozark History via Zoom COST — Free INFO — shilohmuseum.org or 750-8165 FYI — Read more about the Nelson Hackett Project at nelsonhackettproject.uark. edu. See Hackett Page 4 Legacy Of Liberty Nelson Hackett Project more than one slave's story The Nelson Hackett Project, based at the University of Arkansas, has resurrected the story of one enslaved resident of Fayetteville who fled to Canada in 1841. Read more at nelsonhackettproject.uark.edu. (Courtesy Image) FAYETTEVILLE