Slavery in Platteville, Part 1: The Mitchell Family

The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums will be holding a series of three presentations by historian James B. Hibbard this fall regarding slavery in Platteville. This presentation will explore the Mitchell family, especially James Mitchell’s ownership of two young slave girls. It will show where the girls lived and worked, who confronted Mitchell about his slave ownership, and how Mitchell’s treatment of the enslaved girls caused him to leave town. A Q&A with the speaker will follow each talk. For the health of our visitors, the presentation will be held via Zoom.

FREE, REGISTRATION REQUIRED. Zoom link will be supplied upon registration. Click button below to register.

The first two lectures in the series will be free and open to the public, and the third will be part of the Museums’ Annual Programs and Meeting, open to all who renew their annual gift to the Friends of The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums.

The lecture series complements the African-American Miners in Wisconsin exhibit at the Museums since fall 2017. The exhibit was a collaboration between five UW-Platteville students and the Museums. The importance of the exhibit was recognized when the Mining History Association presented the Museums with the 2019 Beselme-Orrell Mining Heritage Award at its annual conference.