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Andrea Roberts leads a research project in a cemetary

Studying the freedom that followed emancipation

Between 1865 and 1930, formerly enslaved people in Texas founded hundreds of self-sufficient communities that have come to be known as Texas Freedom Colonies.

However, many freedom colonies are unmapped, unincorporated, and missing from ‘mainstream’ history, and firsthand knowledge of freedom colonies is at risk because their history is often shared by oral tradition, amen many descendants are passing away.

Andrea Roberts, assistant professor of urban planning, is the founder of the Texas Freedom Colonies Project™, a research project dedicated to freedom colony history, planning, policy and preservation.

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Richard Nira

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