Yes. While not recommended, it’s how the ingenious Henry Brown gained his freedom from slavery. To help him escape, Brown sought the help of two men: James Smith, a black freedman, and Samuel Smith, a white shoemaker who, ironically, owned slaves himself. On March 23, 1849, Brown crawled into a tiny wooden box – it was three feet long, two feet wide, and two feet-six inches high – and asked these men to mail him as “dry goods” via express train from Richmond to Philadelphia. Brown’s perilous passage to freedom lasted approximately 27 hours, several of which he spent traveling upside down. The box finally arrived at the office of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society in Philadelphia on March 24, where it was opened and Brown, who would soon become known as Henry “Box” Brown, emerged. Reflecting on the voyage, Brown recalled how his eyes swelled “as if they would burst from their sockets,” and the veins from his temples were distended from the pressure of blood on his head. Brown would later publish two narratives about his life in slavery and his escape, as well as tour England.
Further Reading
Jeffrey Ruggles, The Unboxing of Henry Brown (2003)
“An International Fugitive: Henry Box Brown, Anti-Imperialism, and Slavery” by Suzette Spencer (Social Identities, Vol. 12, No. 2, March 2006)
This Vignette Provided By
Suzette A. Spencer, Assistant Professor of Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison
On March 4 2008 The Success of the serge said: @ 1:31 pm
Well if you mailed yourself in a box I would imagine you would be dead. The Success of the serge(Quote)
On March 4 2008 The Success of the serge said: @ 1:31 pm
I think you would be dead if you mailed youreself most likely in a lot of pieces. The Success of the serge(Quote)
On March 4 2008 VFH said: @ 1:51 pm
[quote comment="504"]Well if you mailed yourself in a box I would imagine you would be dead.[/quote]
That’s exactly what I find so amazing about Henry Brown’s story. Of course he’s not the only one to do it. http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Southwest/09/09/plane.stowaway/index.html VFH(Quote)
On March 6 2008 Sophie Wolfe said: @ 5:52 pm
Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction. Good stuff! Sophie Wolfe(Quote)
On April 13 2009 indigo said: @ 4:08 am
They didn’t have mail on planes back then…so little chance of freezing to death and/or suffocating. They also probably didn’t kick the hell out of every piece of mail that comes through the office, like they do now.
Some people do still try to mail themselves, mostly unsuccessfully. VERY unsuccessfully. You hear about it every now and again.
I dunno why, but I was curious about the topic and googled “how to mail yourself”. Two measly results, so I take it the government has scoured the internet of info on it, or people generally know better. *shrugs* indigo(Quote)