Ira Berlin died this week. His Slaves Without Masters: The Free Negro in the Antebellum South (1974) helped me make sense of the lives of my Henderson, Aldridge, Artis, Hagans and Seaberry ancestors, whose free status I had never suspected — or perhaps even heard of — when I began genealogical research. When I veered toward a Ph.D. in American History after law school, Professor Berlin tried to convince me to come to the University of Maryland. I chose Columbia University instead, though it pained me to miss an opportunity to study under him.
Scuffalong: Genealogy. 
Wow… this is sounds like a must read, cousin.
It is! As is my “bible” — John Hope Franklin’s Free Negro in North Carolina, which really gives context to the lives of our people.