Lectures on Tap - US History: The Underground Railroad That Went to Mexico

📍 Location: Exact address given in confirmation email

🧠 Lecture: "U.S. History: The Underground Railroad That Went to Mexico"

🎤 Speaker: Dr. Alice Baumgartner

Join us for a compelling evening as Dr. Alice Baumgartner uncovers the little-known story of the Underground Railroad that ran south, not north. While many Americans learn about the routes to Canada, thousands of enslaved people fled instead to Mexico, where slavery had been abolished.

In this talk, Dr. Baumgartner will trace the journeys of these freedom seekers from the ranchlands and plantations of the south-central United States to new lives across the border. She will explore how they escaped, the communities that sheltered them, and the political and social forces that made Mexico a beacon of freedom—and helped set the stage for the U.S. Civil War.

Dr. Baumgartner is an associate professor of history at the University of Southern California. A Rhodes Scholar, she holds a Ph.D. in History from Yale University and an M.Phil in Latin American Studies from the University of Oxford. Her first book, South to Freedom: Runaway Slaves to Mexico and the Road to Civil War, was a New York Times Editors’ Choice and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award.

Get a drink, connect, and learn at Lectures on Tap! 🙌

Agenda

7:30 PM – Doors open: find a seat (open seating!), order food & drinks, and expect a bar line—arriving early is key.

7:55 PM – Host introduction

8:00 PM – Lecture begins

8:45 PM – Audience Q&A

9:00 PM – Have 1:1 time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and order another round

9:30 PM – Wrap up.