The Other Side of the Story: Slavery in Texas

In the final episode of this podcast, explore what life was like for enslaved Texans during the Civil War. What did the now-famous Order No. 3, confirming Texans’ freedom, actually say? And for a people enslaved for much or all of their lives, what did it mean to be free?

In this episode, hear the remarkable experience of an enslaved Texan who fought for her freedom in the Texas courts.

Would you like to hear an overview of what this podcast is about? Here's an interview of Lance Cooper by KOOP Austin. 

In this episode, I interview Professor Roseann Bacha-Garza, who teaches anthropology at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg. She has been carrying out groundbreaking research of the runaway slave experience in far South Texas. Bacha-Garza has also published on the impact of the Civil War on that region. That topic is a little outside the scope of this podcast, but what she’s lear...

How did enslaved Texans push back against their fate? In this episode, we talk about the ways that enslaved Texans resisted the system of slavery, including running away.

In this episode, I interview Kyle Ainsworth, an archivist and historian at Stephen F. Austin State University. Ainsworth discusses the Texas Runaway Slave Project, a key database for the study of slavery in Texas. He also speaks to how archives function, how local sources are mined and preserved, and what those sources can offer to researchers. Ainsworth also discusses a recent article he publishe...

Join archivist Kyle Ainsworth for an audio walking tour of the collections of Stephen F. Austin State University. The university’s archives are in Nacogdoches, one of the oldest communities in what is now Texas.

In this Extra, hear Cassandra Berry and Mark Graham perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and “Saved All Day” in their entirety. Lance Cooper also introduces “Saved All Day” and provides background about the song. And listen to an interview of Berry and Graham as they explain how they brought the song back to life.

In this episode, we explore how family, tradition, music, and spiritual beliefs helped enslaved Texans endure life in a slave society.

This episode explores a difficult topic -- the physical and emotional brutality faced by enslaved Texans. 

Please join me for an interview with one of the leading scholars of slavery in Texas: Professor Andrew Torget of the University of North Texas. 

 Slavery boomed in Texas after the republic joined the Union as a state. This raised many questions for the new state: What was it like to be forcibly brought to Texas? How did bringing in thousands of enslaved workers affect Texas? How did the human-trafficking business in Texas affect the state and the people caught up in that system? What did slaveowners do to keep slavery profitable, and how d...

In this episode, we explore what it was actually like to work as an enslaved person on a Texas plantation. 

What are the roots of slavery in Texas? In this episode, we examine how the American South became a slave society.

Slavery didn’t come to Texas by chance. This episode explores how Americans brought the slave society to Texas.

In this episode, we step outside the main narrative of slavery in Texas to consider the abrupt disappearance of John, an enslaved Texan, and the legal fallout caused by his disappearance.

Is slavery an important chapter in Texas history? Does our past as a slaveholding state matter now? And why did I create this podcast? Let’s talk.