Searching for a Spy: A Conversation with Dr. David Cecelski on Discovering the Legend of Abraham Galloway

Connecting the Docs: True Stories from the Old North State

For this episode our HBCU/MIHE summer intern Tyanna West chats with renowned historian and author Dr. David Cecelski about Abraham Hankins Galloway, an abolitionist, union spy, and North Carolina state senator from Brunswick County. Cecelski’s biography, The Fire of Freedom: Abraham Galloway and the Slaves’ Civil War, illuminates a portrait of this little-known hero who ascended from the bondage of slavery to become one of the most important Black leaders during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Cecelski shares his research process, what drew him to the life of Abraham Galloway, and why he thinks many don’t know or share Galloway's story.

Sources mentioned:

Cecelski, David S. 2015. The Fire of Freedom: Abraham Galloway and the Slaves’ Civil War. Chapel Hill: University Of North Carolina Press.