William Earle

William Earle Williams has been photographing Underground Railroad sites for more than 25 years. His photography career began while he was an undergraduate at Hamilton College, in Clinton, NY . In 2001, he discovered Hamilton's abolitionist history, and took a special interest in Underground Railroad sites in that part of New York State . In 2003, Williams received an artist's residency at Light Work, in Syracuse, New York, which provided him with the opportunity to make an extended document of sites in Central Upstate New York. In that same year, Williams received a Guggenheim Fellowship, which enabled him to do extensive research on additional sites around the country. Since then, Williams has visited sites in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Mississippi, West Virginia, Eastern Ontario in Canada and many others to continue this document of powerful yet sensitive photographs of these important sites. Informative texts about each site written by Williams accompany each image.

The Sheldon Art Galleries presents a gallery talk in conjunction with the exhibition Uncovering the Path to Freedom: Photographs of Underground Railroad Sites by William Earle Williams, February 19 - May 15, 2010, in the Gallery of Photography.

William Earle Williams has been photographing Underground Railroad sites for more than 25 years. His photography career began while he was an undergraduate at Hamilton College, in Clinton, NY . In 2001, he discovered Hamilton's abolitionist history, and took a special interest in Underground Railroad sites in that part of New York State . In 2003, Williams received an artist's residency at Light Work, in Syracuse, New York, which provided him with the opportunity to make an extended document of sites in Central Upstate New York. In that same year, Williams received a Guggenheim Fellowship, which enabled him to do extensive research on additional sites around the country. Since then, Williams has visited sites in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Mississippi, West Virginia, Eastern Ontario in Canada and many others to continue this document of powerful yet sensitive photographs of these important sites. Informative texts about each site written by Williams accompany each image.