To Visit Your Husband: Harriet Lawson’s Pass, 1832;Harriet Lawson carried this pass to visit her husband, Caleb, at work in a nearby town. As free blacks, the Lawsons could legally marry, but Maryland placed limits on their liberty. If they traveled without a pass, they could be fined $20 or sold into slavery.;The Back of Lawson’s Pass;If stopped, Lawson would face the humiliation of being physically inspected. This pass described her as: “Black, 29 yrs of age five feet high has a mole on the right side of her right eye no other perceptible #x201d;;Slavery and Freedo

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To Visit Your Husband: Harriet Lawson’s Pass, 1832;Harriet Lawson carried this pass to visit her husband, Caleb, at work in a nearby town. As free blacks, the Lawsons could legally marry, but Maryland placed limits on their liberty. If they traveled without a pass, they could be fined $20 or sold into slavery.;The Back of Lawson’s Pass;If stopped, Lawson would face the humiliation of being physically inspected. This pass described her as: “Black, 29 yrs of age five feet high has a mole on the right side of her right eye no other perceptible #x201d;;Slavery and Freedom Exhibition

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Photo credit: © Heritage Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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