Podcast Summary: New Books Network Interview with Maria R. Montalvo, author of "Enslaved Archives: Slavery, Law, and the Production of the Past" (Johns Hopkins UP, 2024) Date: September 9, 2025
Host: Adam McNeil
Guest: Maria R. Montalvo, Assistant Professor of History, Emory University

Overview

This episode features a deep-dive discussion with historian Maria R. Montalvo on her groundbreaking book "Enslaved Archives." The conversation covers how court records from antebellum New Orleans—specifically warranty disputes and freedom suits—informed the construction of historical narratives about enslaved people. Montalvo and McNeil explore methodological challenges in writing histories from archives deeply shaped by the perspectives and legal interests of enslavers, the complexities of the legal culture in Louisiana, and the process of turning a vast archival haul into a focused scholarly work. Throughout, Maria emphasizes archive-driven histories and the ethical stakes of narrating the experiences of the enslaved, while Adam draws out implications for teaching, methodology, and community.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins of the Project

Timestamps: 04:05–07:52

• Genesis: Maria originally intended to study the history of medicine, not slavery. Her trajectory changed after encountering a court record of a lawsuit over the mental health ("insanity") of an enslaved person, which piqued her interest in warranty disputes surrounding enslaved people.
• Archival Discovery: The digitization of Louisiana Supreme Court records enabled her to plunge into these legal archives, shaping the foundation of her dissertation and ultimately her first book.

"I got so lost in the stories that for a time, I failed to remember who was doing the telling and to what end... I was simply summarizing what enslavers... said in court about people with none. Only after I started learning from scholars who critically consider the nature of the written archive... did I begin to realize that if I did not ask questions about the production of these records and... what it meant to be enslaved... all I would be doing was rewriting the stories that enslavers wanted told. This book is my attempt to do something different."
— Maria R. Montalvo, 07:52

2. Historiographical Influences & Methodological Shifts

Timestamps: 09:41–15:33

• Maria discusses her early scholarly influences, including Walter Johnson's Soul by Soul, Stephanie Camp's Closer to Freedom, and Marisa Fuentes' Dispossessed Lives. The work of these historians demonstrated methods for extracting and honoring the lived experiences of enslaved people from legal and archival sources, despite their limitations.
• Fuentes’ critical archival reading was particularly pivotal for Maria's methodological self-awareness and eventual shift in focus: “It rocks my world... They work so hard to wrest people's experiences from these confining sources."
• Acknowledges the growth of conversations in the last decade about slavery and the archive, citing influential addresses and symposia.

3. Building an Archive: Indexing 18,000 Court Cases

Timestamps: 15:33–25:01

• Scope: Maria built a bespoke subject index for more than 18,000 civil court records from antebellum New Orleans, an extraordinary feat driven by necessity (lack of existing tools).
• Process: On receiving advice from her committee—“I guess you’re just going to have to look at them all” (23:00)—Maria manually categorized thousands of lawsuits, noting subject, date, and microfilm reel, enabling her to track key themes for her work, like warranty disputes and freedom suits.
• Technical Growth: Admits she started with little know-how, learning by doing, and stresses the importance of returning to early cases with ‘new eyes’ as her expertise deepened.

“It took me about 200 lawsuits to figure out how to read them... but it took slowing down. I think that’s a beautiful way to put it.”
— Maria R. Montalvo, 29:46

4. Choosing Representative Case Studies

Timestamps: 30:16–36:17

• Selection Process: With tens of thousands of cases at hand, Maria chose to organize her book around a handful of emblematic individuals whose stories were both personal and representative of larger systemic patterns.
• Archival Encounters: Each chapter is rooted in a different archival journey—sometimes sparked by footnotes in other historians' work (e.g., following up on Sarah Connor from Johnson's Soul by Soul; 31:45) or reassessing figures she initially overlooked.
• Diary Practice: Advocates keeping a research diary, which helps future writing and capturing the emotional and intellectual experience of encountering the archive.

5. Redhibition Laws and Legal Culture in Louisiana

Timestamps: 36:17–42:13

• Explanation: Redhibition laws governed the warranties under which enslaved people were sold—the very legal context that generated so many detailed court records.
• Significance: Louisiana’s unique legal machinery enabled enslavers to litigate ‘defects’ (illness, ‘madness,’ running away, etc.) like commodities, requiring detailed biographical documentation which, paradoxically, offers an unusually rich but deeply problematic record for historians.

“These laws give enslavers a tool and a rhetoric that helps them navigate this uncertain market where a person's health and history and capacity for labor is never completely knowable... these laws sort of give rise to, like, enslavers. Take the rhetoric and the meaning of these laws and they make them into warranties.” — Maria R. Montalvo, 37:52

6. New Orleans as a "Looking Glass"

Timestamps: 42:13–44:12

• Maria frames New Orleans as a unique vantage point for understanding broader dynamics of slavery and the production of legal archives, noting its draw for enslavers across the South and the cosmopolitan, transactional networks shaping its courts.
• Acknowledges influences like Rashauna Johnson’s Slavery’s Metropolis and connects to other work on Black legal testimony across contexts.

7. Archival & Visual Power: Book Cover and Methodology

Timestamps: 47:09–50:57

• Cover Story: Maria selected her book's cover—an image from a WPA-era painting showing an enslaved man locking eyes with the viewer—because it evokes the central question of getting ‘as close as possible’ to individual experience through the archive.
• Archival Power: The book interrogates power as the ability to generate, control, and authenticate information—highlighted through Betsy’s failed freedom suit, where enslavers’ paperwork outweighs her lived history.

“Power isn’t just a matter of brute force or coercion or status. It’s also about the ability to generate, preserve, use credible information. To sum that up, it’s about the ability to be believed.”
— Maria R. Montalvo, 50:57

8. Paperwork, Commodification, and Testimony

Timestamps: 56:50–61:13

• Examines how the paperwork of slavery was not only representational but materially essential to commodifying people, evidenced both in mundane contracts and exceptional correspondence.
• Discusses connection to broader themes in the scholarship of slavery, particularly that of Daina Ramey Berry and others, regarding how the commodification process operated at every transaction.

“Making someone into a commodity wasn’t just representational... it was also material, something that had to be written down in order for it to be effective and binding and legitimate.” — Maria R. Montalvo, 58:04

9. Memorable Archival Stories & Ethical Storytelling

Timestamps: 63:56–69:20

• Most Impactful Case: For Maria, John’s story is central for how she shifted focus and narrative voice. His partial archival presence compels the book’s methodological arc.
• Honoring the Dead: Adam mentions Aggie's story, noting the delicate balance required to narrate violent, dehumanizing acts without re-inscribing archival violence.
• Ethics: Maria emphasizes responsible storytelling when working with archives shaped by the logic of commodification and violence.

10. Teaching, Pedagogy, and Mentorship

Timestamps: 69:20–74:30

• Course Design: Maria’s teaching—especially in the course “Slave Revolts”—mirrors her methodological commitment to source wrestling and critical engagement with archival evidence.
• Encourages teaching students not just to learn history, but to recognize and interrogate the constructed and contested nature of historical sources.

“No piece of historical scholarship is ever the end of a story. It’s only the beginning.”
— Maria R. Montalvo, 70:44

11. Writing Communities and Scholarly Dialogue

Timestamps: 76:29–78:27

• Maria underscores the value of scholarly communities—writing groups, peer readers, manuscript workshops—for challenging and strengthening one’s scholarship.
• Recommends convening such communities early and often: “It made the writing less scary... I didn’t write this thing alone.”

12. Accessibility & Closing (Book is Open Access)

Timestamps: 80:46–81:05

• Maria closes by noting that Enslaved Archives is freely available online thanks to a grant, inviting listeners to access it without purchase barriers.
• The host and guest exchange gratitude, closing on an optimistic note about the book’s ongoing influence and methodological contributions.

Notable Quotes (with Timestamps & Attribution)

• “[Enslaved Archives] is my attempt to do something different.”
  — Maria R. Montalvo, 07:52

• “I guess you’re just going to have to look at them all.”
  — Jim Sidbury (as quoted by Maria), 20:49

• “It took slowing down. I think that’s a beautiful way to put it.”
  — Maria R. Montalvo, 29:46

• “Power isn’t just a matter of brute force or coercion or status. It’s also about the ability to generate, preserve, use credible information... It’s about the ability to be believed.”
  — Maria R. Montalvo, 50:57

• “No piece of historical scholarship is ever the end of a story. It’s only the beginning.”
  — Maria R. Montalvo, 70:44

• “You’re not going to remember everything you see and every idea you have... But if you write a little reflection at the end of your day, you’re going to be thankful for it down the road.”
  — Maria R. Montalvo, 32:10

Important Segment Timestamps

• 04:05 – Maria explains how she came to write Enslaved Archives
• 07:52 – Reading of a key passage from the book’s introduction
• 09:41 – Historiographical influences and impact of recent scholarship
• 15:33 – How and why Maria indexed 18,000+ lawsuits for her project
• 22:54 – Maria describes the technical and emotional process of building her database
• 31:45 – On finding central case studies via archival work and footnotes
• 37:52 – Explanation of redhibition laws and their centrality to the archive
• 42:13 – The significance of New Orleans as a site for this legal/archival work
• 47:09 – The story behind the book’s cover art
• 50:57 – What the book teaches about “power” and “archival power”
• 58:04 – The material role of paperwork in commodifying enslaved people
• 63:56 – Maria’s most memorable and impactful story in the book
• 69:20 – How research methods inform teaching and mentorship
• 76:29 – The importance of writing groups and scholarly communities for book projects
• 80:46 – Book is open-access online; closing remarks

Tone & Style

Conversational, reflective, and deeply engaged, with both personal and methodological vulnerability. Both speakers bring scholarly expertise, warmth, and gratitude to the exchange, actively referencing colleagues, mentors, and the broader intellectual community.

Conclusion

This episode offers an accessible yet rigorous window into both the process and stakes of writing histories of slavery from legal archives. Enslaved Archives stands out for its commitment to self-reflexive methodology, its respect for the humanity of the enslaved, and its openness to public readership. Whether you’re a scholar, student, or interested reader, the discussion provides both a model of historical research and a thoughtful interrogation of how we know what we know about the past.

For access:
Maria notes the book is freely available online thanks to a grant ("you don't have to spend any money," 80:46).