Becoming Lunsford Lane: The Lives of an American Aeneas

Lunsford Lane (1803-79) became a folk hero to many enslaved Southerners, as well as a generation of abolitionists, when he challenged the rules of enslavement and, later, pushed the boundaries of free citizenship in North Carolina.  As the author of a unique “slave narrative” and speaking partner with some of the era’s greatest orators, including William Lloyd Garrison, Henry Highland Garnett, William Wells Brown, and Frederick Douglass, Lane became a celebrity. Gradually, however, the persona he created faltered and his influence waned. That did not deter his enemies, who threatened him and his family with violence and inspired many to remake his image for their own purposes. 

In this hybrid program, Craig Thompson Friend, draws from his newly released biography Becoming Lunsford Lane: The Lives of an American Aeneas (University of North Carolina Press, May 27, 2025) to portray a man who dreamed beyond his enslavement, delivered himself and his family from bondage, and spun a story of his life that brought him lasting freedom and fleeting fame. It is a biography for our times: a man searching to define life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in a changing American society scarred by contentious politics, economic challenges, class tensions, loss of political rights, and racial violence.