The end of slavery in the U.S. (1865, 13th Amendment to the Constitution) was obviously a victory for African Americans throughout the country. But it brought unexpected challenges to northern black people who suddenly found themselves without a unifying cause. It also led the small group of white northerners who had been sympathetic to the cause of abolition to lose their interest in issues facing blacks. I want to explore the experiences of black northerners in the period from probably the middle of the Civil War (so about 1863, year of the NYC Draft Riots) until about 1880 (just beyond the formal end of Reconstruction and the beginning of the sustained movement of black southerners to the north). My goal this semester is to frame this project and to identify the specific holdings of utility and interest at the Newberry.