Prof. Keyes’s Lecture on the Role of the Press in Perpetuating Slavery to Air on Shrewsbury Public Television

By Joel Rosario ’24 
Carl Robert Keyes, Ph.D., professor in and chair of the Department of History at Assumption, actively seeks to share how slavery impacted enslaved men, women, and children in the 18th century through his Adverts 250 Project. His recent lecture on the topic, which was sponsored by the Shrewsbury Public Library, will be aired on Shrewsbury Media Connection, the town’s public television station. 

Prof. Keyes is the director of the Slavery Adverts 250 Project, a blog in which he posts daily advertisements from the 18th century along with an analysis, and one he often incorporates into his history classes at Assumption. In his lecture, Advertising, Enslaved People, and the Role of the Press in Maintaining Slavery in the Era of the American Revolution, examines what modern audiences can learn about the experiences of enslaved people from advertisements published in newspapers from New England to Georgia during the era of the American Revolution. 

“Advertisements that offered rewards for enslaved people who liberated themselves by escaping from those who held them in bondage demonstrate that enslaved people understood the meaning of freedom long before the momentous events of 1776,” said Prof. Keyes. “It is important to examine the role the press had in perpetuating slavery, and the encouragement of the surveillance of Black bodies shows that racial profiling is not a recent phenomenon and actually began in the days of early America.”

Prof. Keyes received his Ph.D. in history from John Hopkins University and has taught undergraduate courses at Assumption such as Slavery and Freedom in British North America and the United States and Narratives of the Enslaved: A Reading and Research Seminar. He has also collaborated with several historical institutions and community organizations, such as the Royall House and Slave Quarters and the Center for Reconciliation, as well as served as a peer reviewer of articles and books about slavery for academic journals and university presses.

Prof. Keyes’s lecture will be aired on Shrewsbury Media Connection on Dec. 12 at 12 a.m. and Dec. 14 at 7:30 a.m. or on YouTube, below: