“A Slave in Nebraska” and Other Black Habeas Activism on the Gilded Age Plains

Drawing on court records, newspaper accounts, and a remarkable journal, this article presents a microhistory of Till, a Black teenager in rural Nebraska who became the subject of a well-publicized 1890 habeas corpus petition alleging his enslavement in violation of the Thirteenth Amendment. It contends that this proceeding should be understood as a freedom suit and that Till’s subsequent life should be understood as part of its legal history.