Skip to main content

Redirect ItemDetail

The link that you are referencing is outdated!
If the item currently exists in our website, it is displayed below. If not, the link that you are referencing is no longer valid and no longer exists on our website. We will have some collections moved in the coming months. See what's coming in updates for Signature Collections or Digital WHILBR Collections on ContentDM.
Black family on canal boat; man sits near boat with 2 mules feeding at trough

Throughout operating years of the canal free black canallers worked the boats. In the 1850’s the company formally approved a measure that prohibited black men from owning or running their own boats. However by 1878 four black boat captains were entered in the boat registry of the C&O Canal. Henry and Louisa Williams along with Andy Jenkins are pictured here with their mules travelling down to Georgetown.