Robert Forrant

Historian and professor

Just as the president's call for mass deportations places the issue of immigration and sanctuary before all of us, the 1850 [Fugitive Slave Law] placed slavery -- and complicity in its existence -- before the public.

Lowell stood strong at a time of great national upheaval. How its people resisted is instructive as Americans consider whether to turn on or offer sanctuary to our immigrant neighbors in 2017.

Brave Hearts: When Lowell Was A Sanctuary City — For Fugitive Slaves

If past can serve as prologue, write's Robert Forrant, a glimpse into the mill city's abolitionist history may prove instructive.
Pictured: Boott Cotton Mills Museum in Lowell, Mass. (Julia Malakie/AP)