Ledger of Liberation

A pop-up exhibition at The Portico Library on African-American abolitionists and activists in Manchester in the 1840s and 1850s.

The Portico Library's pop-up display highlights African-American abolitionists and activists who visited Manchester in the 1840s and 1850s, including Moses Roper, Samuel Ringgold Ward, Frederick Douglass and Sarah Parker Remond. Its centrepiece is Roper's signature in the Library's Strangers' Book, recording his visit on 21 October 1837. The display runs in the Library's exhibition space from 26 September to 17 December 2026.