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Welcome to the History Extra Podcast,

fascinating historical conversations from the makers of BBC History magazine.

On the 20th of December 1848, Ellen Kraft placed a top hat on her head, slipped her arm into a sling and perched

dark green glasses on her nose. Once her disguise was complete, Ellen and her

husband William embarked on an almighty journey.

The couple were enslaved and they had assumed fake identities, Ellen as a white slave master, and William as his manservant, in order to make a bold

bid for freedom.

But their journey to find that freedom was more than a thousand miles long, and fraught with danger. I spoke to Ilion Wu, author of a Pulitzer

Prize winning biography of the crafts to understand how they managed to make it undetected.

Thank you so much for joining me to talk about your book,

Master Slave, Husband Wife,

which tells the frankly remarkable story of Ellen and William Kraft.

Before we launch into the story in more detail,

I wonder if you could give us a sense of what's to come.

Well, we start off at 4 a.m. in Macon, Georgia. We have this enslaved couple,

Ellen and William Kraft, and they are preparing to go on an extraordinary bid for

freedom. It is a journey as master and slave when they were

actually husband and wife and it is Ellen who plays the role of the master.

...