Speaker 1: Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this
Speaker 1: is Womanica. Historically, women have been told to make themselves smaller,
Speaker 1: to diminish themselves. Some have used that idea to their advantage,
Speaker 1: disappearing into new identities. For others, a disappearance was the
Speaker 1: end to their stories, but the beginning of a new
Speaker 1: chapter in their legacies. This month, we're telling the stories
Speaker 1: of these women. We're talking about disappearing acts. In eighteen
Speaker 1: forty eight, two freedom seekers came up with one of
Speaker 1: the most ingenious plans to escape from slavery. Today's Womanquin,
Speaker 1: one half of this duo, disappeared into a disguise despite
Speaker 1: great risk. Her ability to masquerade would lead to the
Speaker 1: couple's freedom or certain doom. Please welcome. Ellen Kraft. Ellen
Speaker 1: was born in eighteen twenty six in Clinton, Georgia. Her
Speaker 1: mother was an enslaved woman. Ellen's father was her first enslaver.
Speaker 1: Growing up, Ellen faced targeted mistreatment from her father's wife,
Speaker 1: the plantation mistress. Ellen's facial features were similar to her father's,
Speaker 1: and her light skin often led her to pass as white.
Speaker 1: The mistress would become enraged whenever Ellen was mistaken as
Speaker 1: one of the family's white children. When she was eleven
Speaker 1: years old, the mistress gifted Ellen as a wedding present
Speaker 1: to one of her daughters, also Ellen's white half sister.
Speaker 1: The sister lived in Macon, Georgia. Ellen no longer had
Speaker 1: to deal with the cruelty of the plantation mistress, but
Speaker 1: she was separated from her mother in the process. From
Speaker 1: a young age, Ellen knew if her own children were
Speaker 1: born into slavery, they could always be taken from her.
Speaker 1: In Macon, Ellen met William, an enslaved carpenter. Much like Ellen.
Speaker 1: William had been torn away from his family. The couple
Speaker 1: married and expected to live under slavery for the rest
Speaker 1: of their lives, but one day an idea popped into
Speaker 1: William's head. It was permitted for male enslavers to travel
Speaker 1: with their enslaved person anywhere in the country. What if
Speaker 1: Ellen disguised herself as a white slave holder and claimed
Speaker 1: William was his enslaved man to escape north. When William
Speaker 1: explained this plan to her, Ellen dismissed it out of fear,
Speaker 1: but the hope lingered, and she came back to the idea.
Speaker 1: William and Ellen obtained holiday passes from their enslavers, granting
Speaker 1: them permission to leave for a few days. But just
Speaker 1: when their plan seemed to fall into place, a thought
Speaker 1: flashed through Ellen's mind. She looked at the travel pass,
Speaker 1: unable to decipher the words on the paper. It was
Speaker 1: forbidden for enslaved people to read and write in Georgia. Moreover,
Speaker 1: Ellen's beardless chin and feminine facial features posed another risk
Speaker 1: to being discovered. Hope was once again fading when Ellen
Speaker 1: lifted her head, teary eyed, I think I have it,
Speaker 1: she exclaimed. Together, the crafts disguised Ellen against all suspicion.
Speaker 1: At dawn, William cut Ellen's hair up to her jaw.
Speaker 1: Ellen dressed herself in a pair of trousers on a
Speaker 1: top hat. Then she placed her arm in a sling.
Speaker 1: This way she could ask officers to write her name
Speaker 1: for her if approached. With a pair of green glasses
Speaker 1: perched on her nose to feign bad eyesight, her illiteracy
Speaker 1: was no longer an issue. She tied a handkerchief around
Speaker 1: her head to cover her beardless chin and feminine cheeks,
Speaker 1: and for good measure, she pretended to have a tooth
Speaker 1: problem as well. To avoid using her voice too much,
Speaker 1: morning arrived, and the two took off for the East
Speaker 1: Coast in December of eighteen forty eight. To avoid drawing suspicion.
Speaker 1: At the railway station, the pair took different paths. Ellen
Speaker 1: went through thee entrance and bought two train tickets, one
Speaker 1: for William in a segregated carriage and one for herself
Speaker 1: up front. When she boarded, Ellen noticed a familiar face
Speaker 1: take the seat next to her. Her heart dropped when
Speaker 1: she realized it was a friend of her enslavers, who
Speaker 1: had met Ellen on several occasions. Ellen pretended to be
Speaker 1: deaf to avoid conversation with him. Luckily it worked, she
Speaker 1: wasn't recognized. The couple continued their journey eastward. Each stop
Speaker 1: was another opportunity for a close call, but Ellen's disguise
Speaker 1: worked wonders. On the way to Charleston, a fellow passenger
Speaker 1: advised her to keep an eye out for abolitionists coming
Speaker 1: up to William. He told her, you have a very
Speaker 1: attentive boy, sir, but you had better watch him like
Speaker 1: a hawk when you get on to the north. On
Speaker 1: Christmas Eve, William and Ellen reached Baltimore, their last stop
Speaker 1: before Philadelphia. As they waited for the train. An officer
Speaker 1: asked Ellen for proof of ownership of William, otherwise he
Speaker 1: couldn't board the train. This was it. Neither of the
Speaker 1: crafts had a solution. The minutes until departure began to
Speaker 1: tick louder. It was only a matter of time until
Speaker 1: they were discovered. Suddenly, the conductor from their previous train
Speaker 1: stepped in. He told the officer the two passengers he
Speaker 1: was detaining had been on his last train. Finally, as
Speaker 1: the bell rang for the train to leave, the officer
Speaker 1: yielded Ellen in her sling and head wrap looked ill.
Speaker 1: The officer decided so it'd be a pity to stop
Speaker 1: him here. Ellen and William boarded their train, and on
Speaker 1: Christmas Day they arrived in Philadelphia. They were aided by
Speaker 1: the Abolitionist Network and they were taught how to read
Speaker 1: and write. Abolitionists advised them to continue their journey to Boston.
Speaker 1: It would be almost impossible for their former enslavers to
Speaker 1: seek them out. In Boston, the couple attended anti slavery rallies.
Speaker 1: They told the story of their escape, sharing stages with
Speaker 1: other fellow freedom seekers like Frederick Douglas and William Lloyd Garrison.
Speaker 1: In eighteen fifty, the Craft's freedom was once again put
Speaker 1: at great risk. The Fugitive Slave Law was signed. This
Speaker 1: law allowed bounty hunters to kidnap and slaved people who
Speaker 1: had escaped to free states and take them back to
Speaker 1: their enslavers. In the fall of eighteen fifty two, bounty
Speaker 1: hunters appeared in Boston looking for Ellen and William. By
Speaker 1: the end of the year, the couple had left the
Speaker 1: city and fled to England. There they were finally able
Speaker 1: to start a family. In eighteen sixty, William published a
Speaker 1: memoir of his and Ellen's eighteen forty eight escape. In it,
Speaker 1: William wrote of their time abroad as the free air
Speaker 1: of good old England degrees so well with my wife
Speaker 1: and our dear little ones, as well as with my son,
Speaker 1: it is not at all likely we shall return at
Speaker 1: present to the peculiar institution of chains and stripes. Ellen
Speaker 1: likely contributed to the books, writing and story. Nearly twenty
Speaker 1: years later, after the end of the Civil War and
Speaker 1: the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, the Crafts returned to Georgia.
Speaker 1: They founded a farm school for emancipated people in the
Speaker 1: eighteen seventies. By the next decade, the couple moved to Charleston,
Speaker 1: where they resided with their daughter and grandchildren for the
Speaker 1: rest of their lives. Ellen passed away in eighteen ninety one,
Speaker 1: William passed nine years later. All month, We're talking about
Speaker 1: Disappearing acts. For more information, find us on Facebook and
Speaker 1: Instagram at Wamanica Podcast special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my
Speaker 1: favorite sister and po creator. Talk to you tomorrow.