Description
Sponsored by The DuBois Freedom center
At The Mount, July 15, 2026
In 1781, an enslaved woman named Elizabeth Freeman heard the words “all men are created equal” read aloud from the Declaration of Independence and resolved to claim that promise for herself and other enslaved people. Known as Mum Bett, Freeman had been enslaved in Sheffield, Massachusetts. She sought the help of Stockbridge attorney Theodore Sedgwick, who filed a freedom suit on her behalf. The Great Barrington court ruled in her favor. Brom and Bett v. Ashley established a legal precedent that contributed to the abolition of slavery in Massachusetts. To this day, Freeman’s story stands as one of the most consequential acts of self-liberation in American history; however, her victory in that courtroom was not the end. It was a provocation—a call that echoes forward to a nation still measuring the distance between its founding ideals and the lives of its people.
Join us for a discussion moderated by Marcus P. Smith, History and Interpretive Fellow of the W.E.B. Du Bois Freedom Center, bringing together scholars, historians, and practitioners to interpret Freeman’s life and legacy, examine the growing movement to honor her memory, and ask what her courage demands of our understanding of liberty and equality in the present. Panelists include:
Fredie D. Kay, Esq., Founder & President, Massachusetts Women’s History Center
Jana Laiz, Education Coordinator, Berkshire County Historical Society, Co-author, A Free Woman on God’s Earth: The True Story of Elizabeth “Mumbet” Freeman
Dr. Martha McNamara, Slavery North Initiative, UMass Amherst
Olivia Scott, Decorative Arts Trust Fellow, Ashley House
