Finding Freedom


The Finding Freedom database is a gateway to the stories of over 400,000 Marylanders: enslavers, enslaved, and free; men, women, and children; young and old; Black, white, and mixed race.

Primary sources comprise the backbone of Finding Freedom. Fugitive slave and domestic traffic advertisements, jail committal notices, manumissions, Slave Statistics, and census records all recorded between 1830 and 1880 form the database’s core. Generous grant funding has enabled the database to evolve. The prisoner record from the Maryland Penitentiary (1811-1947) provided the database with new information and forms the foundation upon which LOSIM’s Maryland Penitentiary Project rests.

Insert a keyword to generate general results. Keywords can range from first names, last names, county names, dates, record type, and more.

Input terms into specific fields to return more precise search results.

Choose a specific record type to exclusively research. Brief descriptions accompany each record type.

Select a specific county to narrow your search geographically.

  • For the Advanced Search, leaving “Sex” blank may result in additional returns. Female or Male was not always indicated on the document or entered into the database, and limiting a search by sex may block entries where no sex was given.
  • Click "Clear" to start a new search.


Enter a name, date, description, or other keyword to get started.

  
Please note that anything entered will be used for every possible field and will not be split up.
(e.g. The name "John Smith" likely won't find entries with a first name of John and last name of Smith, and just "Smith" may find entries where the person's occupation is blacksmith).