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said the Cra s' descendent Davis. "Our grandmother wanted to make sure we knew about them and told us their story. Then, when I was in college, she gave us all copies of Ellen and William's book when it was reissued a er being out of print for so many years. I suppose that's when the significance really, really hit me. It made me all the more proud of them. We all felt that." Woo holds a BA in the Humanities from Yale and a Ph.D. in English from Columbia. Among the book's accolades is being described as "superbly researched and masterfully written" by Library Journal. She has told the Cra story at countless events and through the media, including C-SPAN, which created a detailed online lesson plan based on her work. Davis said Woo's scholarly research on her great-great-grandparents, and the people and places surrounding them, allowed her to make connections and expand on what she already knew from family stories such as: how was Ellen able to navigate certain towns where they traveled? Woo found records showing one of the Collins children was born in Charleston, a town the Cra s had to carefully circumnavigate. Or, why did Ellen and William choose that particular day and year to escape? Woo examined financial problems Collins faced, showing the sale of Ellen was a real and imminent possibility. Additionally, enslavers were more predisposed during the Christmas season to give enslaved people days off, even passes to travel, which made their timing a now-or-never affair. In rediscovering the historic but very human Cra s, Woo and the Cra descendants became friends. Woo recently invited them to a Manhattan celebration of the book, describing meeting the extended Cra family as "a tremendous honor and pleasure, for which I'm grateful beyond words." Woo said, "No one knows the Cra s as they do, and each has lived and interpreted the legacy of their ancestors with such wisdom and grace. In the presence of these great-great-granddaughters of the Cra s, who have so generously shared their family archives and stories, I felt myself especially attuned to Ellen Cra in new ways." With Woo being the leading Cra expert, one might wonder what has moved her the most. "Reading and learning of Ellen and William Cra 's childhood experiences moved me deeply," she said. "Meeting descendants of the Cra s at William Cra 's gravesite in Charleston is a moment I cherish in the present — one I will never forget." While in Macon in February at the Cannonball House, relatives walked the few steps down Mulberry to the former Collins residence. Where Ellen's cottage once stood is now parking and an alleyway. They also met with Muriel Jackson, historian and head of Washington Memorial Library's Genealogical and Historical Room. She showed them artifacts and an era-correct map, enabling them to outline Ellen and William's likely routes to the train station. The group also made their first- ever trip to Clinton to see what's believed to have been the Smith home. "It was fascinating for us to see where they started in Macon," Williams said, "to see where they lived and the 1848 map of Macon. In Clinton, we took pictures of the house and imagined small slave houses where Ellen and her mom and other slaves might have lived. I thought about how Ellen was emotionally abused by her master's wife. My son's oldest daughter is almost 11, and I can't imagine her going off, away from her mother like Ellen was forced to. "Ilyon's book made their story more alive for me. … I'm proud, FROM TOP: FROM TOP: GAIL DECOSTA. DESCENDANTS OF ELLEN AND WILLIAM CRAFT. 48 maconmagazine.com | APRIL/MAY 2023