Reconstructing the Family Unit: Repairing Bonds Broken by Slavery

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In this blog post, Kenyatta D. Berry, J.D., discusses marriages of former slaves in Virginia and recounts her own family story.

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Samuel and Charlotte in a scene from episode 5.

Genealogist Kenyatta D. Berry discusses slave resistance in the Colonies and Caribbean, and how education and resistance later went hand-in-hand.

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Charlotte, played by Patina Miller, teaches a class of former slaves

Genealogist Kenyatta D. Berry discusses how education for newly freed African American families was a gateway to a better life.

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Harriet Tubman, full-length portrait

Library of Congress

Genealogist Kenyatta D. Berry discusses the history of Harriet Tubman and how Charlotte Jenkins channels her strength in Mercy Street.

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Caleb, played by Nyambi Nyambi, in Season 2 of Mercy Street.

Genealogist Kenyatta D. Berry looks at how the term "Contraband" came to be, and the hardship, and sometimes impossibility, of marriage during slavery.

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Executive Producer David Zabel gives notes to a contraband camp chorus

PBS/Erik Heinila

Genealogist Kenyatta D. Berry examines how song was used by slaves to both communicate and express feeling in the moment, as well as and pass history down through generations.

Mercy Street Revealed Blog

Dive Deeper Into the Series With Mercy Street's Experts

Reconstructing the Family Unit: Repairing Bonds Broken by Slavery

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Roots of Resistance

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Education: The Foundation of Freedom

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Moses of Her People: Harriet Tubman and Runaway Slaves

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Contraband: The Ownership and Division of Human Beings

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Singing in Slavery: Songs of Survival, Songs of Freedom

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Mercy Street Seasons 1&2

PBS Video App

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Mercy Street Seasons 1&2

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