Graham Russell Gao Hodges , a former New York City cabdriver, is the George Dorland Langdon, Jr., Professor of History and Africana and Latin American Studies at Colgate University. He is the author of many books, including David Ruggles: A Radical Black Abolitionist and the Underground Railroad in New York City . Howard Ball is Emeritus Professor of Political Science and University Scholar at the University of Vermont and Adjunct Professor of Law at Vermont Law School.