Landmark rulings that help shape American society—like Brown v. Board of Education or Obergefell v. Hodges—are descendants of a long line of past cases that often fade into obscurity.

Albert Rosenblatt, a former associate judge for the New York Court of Appeals, wants to ensure that one such court battle from the mid-19th century over a New York law granting freedom to slaves who set foot in the state, which played out over eight years in the decade leading up to the Civil War, isn’t forgotten.