At about 14, Juliet Wilson was a free person of color who attended Eleutherian College, an educational institution established in Lancaster, Jefferson County, Indiana, in 1848 by local anti-slavery advocates. Enrollment to the school was open to anyone who wanted to learn, regardless of race or gender.

But it was not free. Tuition was required, but in some instances—such as the case of Moses Broyles—students could work in exchange for payment. In Juliet’s case, her tuition likely was paid through a trust set up by her father, Jackson, Mississippi, physician Miller Willson. Wilson died in May 1849 at age 49. Not much more is known about him, except his FindAGrave.com memorial indicates he was born in 1800 in Kentucky.

In 1854, Julia traveled to Madison, Indiana, the seat of Jefferson County, from Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, by way of what was known as a “Black Pass,” according to Eleutherian historian Meagan Brown Bahlke, who compiled a book in 2006 on the history of the college and its anti-slavery founders.

Read more at: Twisted Roots Research