This poster (also known as a broadside), printed in 1793, attests to the successful escape of an enslaved man named Amos, and his master’s fruitless attempt to recapture him.

A great rarity, it is among the earliest extant documents of its kind — one of just a handful of such broadsides surviving from 18th-century America.

The broadside indicates that Amos may have taken refuge in Philadelphia, where a large free Black community often gave refuge to fugitives from slavery. It gives a detailed physical description of Amos and the clothing that he wore when he escaped, also noting that he may have changed his name to Stephen. Amos’s erstwhile master, William Price, offered a reward of $30 for Amos’s recapture, an amount that he later doubled.

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