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Hello from Wonder Media Network.

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I'm Jenny Kaplan and this is Womanica.

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Historically, women have been told to make themselves

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smaller, to diminish themselves.

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Some have used that idea to their advantage,

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disappearing into new identities. For

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others, a disappearance was the end to their

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stories, but the beginning of a new chapter in

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their legacies. This month, we're

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telling the stories of these women. We're talking

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about disappearing acts. In

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eighteen forty eight, two freedom seekers

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came up with one of the most ingenious plans

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to escape from slavery.

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Today's Womanquin, one half of this

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duo, disappeared into a disguise

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despite great risk. Her ability

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to masquerade would lead to the couple's freedom

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or certain doom. Please

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welcome. Ellen Kraft.

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Ellen was born in eighteen twenty six in Clinton,

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Georgia. Her mother was an enslaved

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woman. Ellen's father was

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her first enslaver. Growing

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up, Ellen faced targeted mistreatment

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from her father's wife, the plantation mistress.

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Ellen's facial features were similar to her

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father's, and her light skin often led

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her to pass as white. The mistress

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would become enraged whenever Ellen was

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mistaken as one of the family's white children.

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When she was eleven years old, the mistress

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gifted Ellen as a wedding present to

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one of her daughters, also

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Ellen's white half sister. The

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sister lived in Macon, Georgia. Ellen

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no longer had to deal with the cruelty of the plantation

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mistress, but she was separated from her

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mother in the process. From

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a young age, Ellen knew if

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her own children were born into slavery, they

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could always be taken from her. In

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Macon, Ellen met William, an enslaved

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carpenter. Much like Ellen.

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William had been torn away from his family. The

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couple married and expected to live under

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slavery for the rest of their lives, but

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one day an idea popped into William's

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head. It

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was permitted for male enslavers to travel

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with their enslaved person anywhere in the country.

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What if Ellen disguised herself as

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a white slave holder and claimed

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William was his enslaved man to

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escape north. When William

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explained this plan to her, Ellen dismissed

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it out of fear, but

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the hope lingered, and she came back to the idea.

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William and Ellen obtained holiday passes

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from their enslavers, granting them permission to

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leave for a few days. But

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just when their plan seemed to fall into place, a

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thought flashed through Ellen's mind. She

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looked at the travel pass, unable to decipher

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the words on the paper. It

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was forbidden for enslaved people to read and

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write in Georgia. Moreover,

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Ellen's beardless chin and feminine facial

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features posed another risk to being discovered.

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Hope was once again fading when

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Ellen lifted her head, teary eyed,

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I think I have it, she exclaimed. Together,

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the crafts disguised Ellen against

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all suspicion. At

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dawn, William cut Ellen's hair up to her

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jaw. Ellen dressed herself

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in a pair of trousers on a top hat. Then

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she placed her arm in a sling. This

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way she could ask officers to write her name

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for her if approached. With

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a pair of green glasses perched on her

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nose to feign bad eyesight, her

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illiteracy was no longer an issue. She

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tied a handkerchief around her head to cover her

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beardless chin and feminine cheeks, and

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for good measure, she pretended to have a tooth

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problem as well. To avoid using her voice

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too much, morning

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arrived, and the two took off for the East Coast

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in December of eighteen forty eight. To

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avoid drawing suspicion. At the railway station,

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the pair took different paths. Ellen

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went through thee entrance and bought two train

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tickets, one for William

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in a segregated carriage and one for herself

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up front. When

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she boarded, Ellen noticed a familiar

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face take the seat next to her. Her

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heart dropped when she realized it was a friend

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of her enslavers, who had met

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Ellen on several occasions.

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Ellen pretended to be deaf to avoid conversation

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with him.

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Luckily it worked, she wasn't recognized.

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The couple continued their journey eastward. Each

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stop was another opportunity for a close

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call, but Ellen's disguise

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worked wonders. On

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the way to Charleston, a fellow passenger advised

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her to keep an eye out for abolitionists coming

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up to William. He

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told her, you have a very attentive boy,

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sir, but you had better watch him

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like a hawk when you get on to the north. On

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Christmas Eve, William and Ellen reached Baltimore,

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their last stop before Philadelphia.

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As they waited for the train. An officer asked

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Ellen for proof of ownership of William, otherwise

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he couldn't board the train. This

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was it. Neither of the crafts

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had a solution. The

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minutes until departure began to tick louder.

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It was only a matter of time until they were discovered.

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Suddenly, the conductor from their previous train

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stepped in. He told the officer

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the two passengers he was detaining had been

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on his last train. Finally,

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as the bell rang for the train to leave, the officer

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yielded Ellen in her

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sling and head wrap looked ill. The officer

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decided so it'd be a pity

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to stop him here. Ellen

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and William boarded their train, and on Christmas

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Day they arrived in Philadelphia. They

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were aided by the Abolitionist Network

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and they were taught how to read and write.

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Abolitionists advised them to continue their

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journey to Boston. It

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would be almost impossible for their former enslavers

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to seek them out. In Boston,

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the couple attended anti slavery rallies.

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They told the story of their escape, sharing

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stages with other fellow freedom seekers

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like Frederick Douglas and William Lloyd Garrison.

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In eighteen fifty, the Craft's freedom was once

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again put at great risk. The

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Fugitive Slave Law was signed. This

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law allowed bounty hunters to kidnap and

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slaved people who had escaped to free states

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and take them back to their enslavers. In

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the fall of eighteen fifty two, bounty hunters

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appeared in Boston looking for Ellen and

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William. By the end of

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the year, the couple had left the city and fled to

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England. There they were

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finally able to start a family. In

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eighteen sixty, William published a memoir

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of his and Ellen's eighteen forty eight escape.

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In it, William wrote of their time abroad as

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the free air of good old England degrees so

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well with my wife and our dear little ones,

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as well as with my son, it

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is not at all likely we shall return at present

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to the peculiar institution of chains

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and stripes. Ellen likely

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contributed to the books, writing and story.

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Nearly twenty years later, after the

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end of the Civil War and the passage of the Thirteenth

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Amendment, the Crafts returned

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to Georgia. They

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founded a farm school for emancipated

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people in the eighteen seventies. By

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the next decade, the couple moved to Charleston,

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where they resided with their daughter and grandchildren

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for the rest of their lives. Ellen

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passed away in eighteen ninety one, William

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passed nine years later. All

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month, We're talking about Disappearing acts. For

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more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram

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at Wamanica Podcast special

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thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and po creator.

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Talk to you tomorrow.