John Harris
@drjohnaeharris.bsky.social
Historian of slavery and abolition. Author of The Last Slave Ships: NYC & The End of The Middle Passage (Yale, 2020). Working on a new book Spying on The Slave Trade 🕵️. Rep’d by Deirdre Mullane
N. Ireland - U.S.
https://www.johnaeharris.com/
N. Ireland - U.S.
https://www.johnaeharris.com/
In May I knocked on a door in Brooklyn. Thrilled to see that adventure become a New York Times article in print this weekend.
August 9, 2025 at 1:41 PM
In May I knocked on a door in Brooklyn. Thrilled to see that adventure become a New York Times article in print this weekend.
I enjoy mazey bookstores (Edisto Island SC)
July 9, 2025 at 8:44 PM
I enjoy mazey bookstores (Edisto Island SC)
3,000+ at No Kings in Greenville SC
June 14, 2025 at 8:27 PM
3,000+ at No Kings in Greenville SC
At a time when early studies are showing that AI weakens student learning outcomes like critical thinking, it feels like universities that go all in on AI are cheapening their product.
June 7, 2025 at 2:07 PM
At a time when early studies are showing that AI weakens student learning outcomes like critical thinking, it feels like universities that go all in on AI are cheapening their product.
A cousin of my bathroom floor
May 19, 2025 at 11:37 AM
A cousin of my bathroom floor
The Center for Brooklyn History does not disappoint!
May 14, 2025 at 11:09 PM
The Center for Brooklyn History does not disappoint!
Update: Got a house tour from the Horace Greeley descendants - several of whom are named … Horace Greeley. It was Horace mania inside!
Very cool to see where my subject (Sanchez) lived & to briefly walk in his footsteps. Got a sense of his living situation / stylistic interests (Italianate) /1
Very cool to see where my subject (Sanchez) lived & to briefly walk in his footsteps. Got a sense of his living situation / stylistic interests (Italianate) /1
May 14, 2025 at 1:39 AM
Update: Got a house tour from the Horace Greeley descendants - several of whom are named … Horace Greeley. It was Horace mania inside!
Very cool to see where my subject (Sanchez) lived & to briefly walk in his footsteps. Got a sense of his living situation / stylistic interests (Italianate) /1
Very cool to see where my subject (Sanchez) lived & to briefly walk in his footsteps. Got a sense of his living situation / stylistic interests (Italianate) /1
Update: Got a house tour from the Horace Greeley descendants - several of whom are named … Horace Greeley. It was Horace mania inside!
Very cool to see where my subject (Sanchez) lived & to briefly walk in his footsteps. Got a sense of his living situation / stylistic interests (Italianate) /1
Very cool to see where my subject (Sanchez) lived & to briefly walk in his footsteps. Got a sense of his living situation / stylistic interests (Italianate) /1
May 14, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Update: Got a house tour from the Horace Greeley descendants - several of whom are named … Horace Greeley. It was Horace mania inside!
Very cool to see where my subject (Sanchez) lived & to briefly walk in his footsteps. Got a sense of his living situation / stylistic interests (Italianate) /1
Very cool to see where my subject (Sanchez) lived & to briefly walk in his footsteps. Got a sense of his living situation / stylistic interests (Italianate) /1
What exactly are the Sanchez - Greeley connections? Idk yet.
In the meantime, I’m going to politely snoop all through this house.
In the meantime, I’m going to politely snoop all through this house.
May 12, 2025 at 10:40 PM
What exactly are the Sanchez - Greeley connections? Idk yet.
In the meantime, I’m going to politely snoop all through this house.
In the meantime, I’m going to politely snoop all through this house.
5 minutes later a curious Dr Greeley calls me (yes!) & we talk for 30 minutes. He says, yes it is the Horace Greeley family & they’ve lived there since 1903 - pretty much since Sanchez’s days. Dr G’s son is currently making a Horace G documentary. They are giving me a house tour tomorrow evening! /5
May 12, 2025 at 10:40 PM
5 minutes later a curious Dr Greeley calls me (yes!) & we talk for 30 minutes. He says, yes it is the Horace Greeley family & they’ve lived there since 1903 - pretty much since Sanchez’s days. Dr G’s son is currently making a Horace G documentary. They are giving me a house tour tomorrow evening! /5
The receptionist Ramona sadly did not share my enthusiasm for this being the house of the spy but she did pass along a hastily scrawled note I wrote for Dr Greeley along with a copy of my book (yes, pure bait - also the note stretches the truth tbh) /4
May 12, 2025 at 10:40 PM
The receptionist Ramona sadly did not share my enthusiasm for this being the house of the spy but she did pass along a hastily scrawled note I wrote for Dr Greeley along with a copy of my book (yes, pure bait - also the note stretches the truth tbh) /4
I got inside and pictures of Horace Greeley - as in the famous editor of the anti slavery NY Tribune & 1872 presidential candidate - were all over the lobby. Whaaat? /3
May 12, 2025 at 10:40 PM
I got inside and pictures of Horace Greeley - as in the famous editor of the anti slavery NY Tribune & 1872 presidential candidate - were all over the lobby. Whaaat? /3
Sanchez lived in this house in the 1870s and I was delighted to see that the house still stands - all others on the block except the neighbor’s - have been knocked down and rebuilt.
As I got nearer, I noticed it now houses a doctor’s office & the Dr has a curious name: Dr Norman Horace Greeley. /2
As I got nearer, I noticed it now houses a doctor’s office & the Dr has a curious name: Dr Norman Horace Greeley. /2
May 12, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Sanchez lived in this house in the 1870s and I was delighted to see that the house still stands - all others on the block except the neighbor’s - have been knocked down and rebuilt.
As I got nearer, I noticed it now houses a doctor’s office & the Dr has a curious name: Dr Norman Horace Greeley. /2
As I got nearer, I noticed it now houses a doctor’s office & the Dr has a curious name: Dr Norman Horace Greeley. /2
Today I was in Brooklyn and cold-called the old home of Emilio Sanchez, an undercover agent who tried to stop the illegal transatlantic slave trade out of NYC in the 1850s / 1860s. I’m writing his bio. It turned out to be a wild ride /1
May 12, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Today I was in Brooklyn and cold-called the old home of Emilio Sanchez, an undercover agent who tried to stop the illegal transatlantic slave trade out of NYC in the 1850s / 1860s. I’m writing his bio. It turned out to be a wild ride /1
Historians in Brooklyn. Great to finally meet @unlawfulentries.bsky.social in person and to hear about her forthcoming book on early American immigration and much more. Excellent restaurant choice too - as expected!
May 12, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Historians in Brooklyn. Great to finally meet @unlawfulentries.bsky.social in person and to hear about her forthcoming book on early American immigration and much more. Excellent restaurant choice too - as expected!
They just came out and said it didn’t they?
May 10, 2025 at 10:56 AM
They just came out and said it didn’t they?
The New Orleans chapter of my next book on illegal slave trade spy Emilio Sanchez is drafted.
Herein Sanchez
•Works for the Spanish consulate, possibly as a mole
•Falls and fails in love
•Becomes an enslaver (despite fighting the slave trade)
More to come…
Herein Sanchez
•Works for the Spanish consulate, possibly as a mole
•Falls and fails in love
•Becomes an enslaver (despite fighting the slave trade)
More to come…
April 27, 2025 at 11:49 PM
The New Orleans chapter of my next book on illegal slave trade spy Emilio Sanchez is drafted.
Herein Sanchez
•Works for the Spanish consulate, possibly as a mole
•Falls and fails in love
•Becomes an enslaver (despite fighting the slave trade)
More to come…
Herein Sanchez
•Works for the Spanish consulate, possibly as a mole
•Falls and fails in love
•Becomes an enslaver (despite fighting the slave trade)
More to come…
What in the counterfactual history and bad thinking is going on here?
April 26, 2025 at 1:19 AM
What in the counterfactual history and bad thinking is going on here?
“Men untroubled by conscience… their world casts its long shadow onto ours” - Joshua Rothman on slave traders
April 20, 2025 at 2:33 PM
“Men untroubled by conscience… their world casts its long shadow onto ours” - Joshua Rothman on slave traders
These are not the same but there are horrible echos. We know this is wrong.
April 17, 2025 at 12:21 PM
These are not the same but there are horrible echos. We know this is wrong.
My contribution to the banned books series is in the works…
April 15, 2025 at 9:43 PM
My contribution to the banned books series is in the works…
I teach at a small liberal arts college but our history department is mighty. Our undergrads have won “best paper” at the Carolinas Phi Alpha Theta history conference in BACK TO BACK years!
April 12, 2025 at 9:09 PM
I teach at a small liberal arts college but our history department is mighty. Our undergrads have won “best paper” at the Carolinas Phi Alpha Theta history conference in BACK TO BACK years!
Looking for help. What is the word next to "Nash"?
Context: this is a bill from an undertaker in New Orleans 1847. E. Sanchez is paying for Catherine Nash's funeral expenses: coffin, hearse, sheet(?), carriages.
Context: this is a bill from an undertaker in New Orleans 1847. E. Sanchez is paying for Catherine Nash's funeral expenses: coffin, hearse, sheet(?), carriages.
April 10, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Looking for help. What is the word next to "Nash"?
Context: this is a bill from an undertaker in New Orleans 1847. E. Sanchez is paying for Catherine Nash's funeral expenses: coffin, hearse, sheet(?), carriages.
Context: this is a bill from an undertaker in New Orleans 1847. E. Sanchez is paying for Catherine Nash's funeral expenses: coffin, hearse, sheet(?), carriages.
A few years ago I thought about writing a book about Sherman’s march as an emancipation story but then I heard this book was nearing completion. It looks great.
April 3, 2025 at 2:37 PM
A few years ago I thought about writing a book about Sherman’s march as an emancipation story but then I heard this book was nearing completion. It looks great.
An archivist called me a lucky son of a bitch, which means it’s a great research day!
March 18, 2025 at 9:44 PM
An archivist called me a lucky son of a bitch, which means it’s a great research day!