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2003:

Corporate Bill for Slavery - The federal class-action lawsuits [in USA]...seek corporate accountability for profits made from slavery, unspecified damages and the establishment of a fund for the healthcare, housing, education and economic development needs of African-Americans. They also want a full investigation of the financial underpinnings of slavery...On the other side of the lawsuits are seventeen powerful corporations. They include financial institutions such as JPMorgan Chase and FleetBoston; insurance companies (e.g., Aetna and New York Life); railroads (Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific and CSX); tobacco companies (R.J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson); and a textile manufacturer (WestPoint Stevens). (John S. Friedman, The Nation, 20 Feb. 2003)

RIGHTS-JAMAICA: Conference to Continue Fight for Reparations for Slavery -...Meanwhile the reparations movement has been building steam in Jamaica and throughout the world.  Last October, more than 500 delegates meeting in Barbados created the Pan African Movement, which voted to launch lawsuits this year against former slave-trading nations, including Britain, Germany, Belgium and France. (Dionne Jackson Miller, Inter Press Service, 21 Jan. 2003)

2002:

City Council seeks slavery records - Chicago City Council passed an ordinance Wednesday requiring any company doing business with it to search its records and disclose whether it or a predecessor firm profited from the U.S. slavery industry. (Reuters, 2 Oct. 2002)

• In unanimous vote, Chicago City Council requires companies to disclose slavery ties (Jerry Crimmins, Associated Press, 2 Oct. 2002) 

State [California] releases names of slaves who were insured - The names of hundreds of slaves whose lives were insured before 1865 were released by the state Wednesday, plunging California into the middle of a growing national movement to sue companies for slavery reparations. The information, mandated by a state law passed in 2000, came largely from three insurance companies that do business in California: New York Life, AIG and Aetna (Sarah Lubman, San Jose Mercury News, 2 May 2002)

• Slave Owners and Their Insurers Are Named [USA] - The California Department of Insurance on Wednesday identified half a dozen insurance companies that issued slavery-era policies and posted the names of hundreds of slave owners and the slaves they insured on the agency's Web site [firms mentioned in article include New York Life, Aetna, AIG, Royal & Sun Alliance, Manhattan Life & Ace USA] (Dan Morain, Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2002)

• California Department of Insurance releases slavery era insurance policy research report (California Department of Insurance, 1 May 2002)

• report: Slavery Era Insurance Registry Report to the California Legislature (California Department of Insurance, May 2002)

• Slavery Era Insurance Registry (California Department of Insurance)

Federal Lawsuit [USA] Seeks Slave Reparations from Three Companies [Aetna Inc., CSX Corp., FleetBoston Financial Corp.] (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 18 Apr. 2002)

UNITED STATES: Slavery Lawsuit Aims for Social Change - A class-action lawsuit filed by some 35 million descendants of black slaves against three companies with ties to the slave trade is aimed as much at shaking up U.S. society as at winning financial returns, say lawyers and observers. (Jim Lobe, Inter Press Service, 27 Mar. 2002)

Lawsuit Chases Companies Tied to Slavery [USA]: A prayer on a Brooklyn street preceded the filing of an unprecedented $1.4 trillion lawsuit against eight major corporations alleged to have profited from their historical ties to the slave trade more than 137 years ago. Claiming to represent all of the United States' 35 million African-Americans, New York slave reparations activist Deadria Farmer-Paellmann named Aetna Inc., CSX Corp. and FleetBoston Financial Corp., among others, as unjustly profiting from the slave trade before the Civil War ended in 1865. (Kelley Vlahos Beaucar, Fox News, 27 Mar. 2002)

US firms face slave reparations suit: Three major US corporations accused of profiting from the slave trade before it was abolished almost 150 years ago are being taken to court by African-Americans seeking compensation for the abuses suffered by their ancestors. The lawsuit is the first of what is expected to be a deluge of claims against insurer Aetna, railroad firm CSX and financial services firm Fleet Boston. (BBC News, 26 Mar. 2002)

• Aetna, CSX, FleetBoston face slave reparations suit [USA] - The complaint, to be filed Tuesday in federal District Court in New York, asks for unspecified damages, restitution for unpaid slave labor and a share of corporate profits derived from slavery. (James Cox, USA Today, 24 Mar. 2002)

• Reparations gain legal, academic interest [USA]:...From college campuses and state capitols to courthouses and corporate boardrooms, reparations is suddenly a hot topic. (James Cox, USA Today, 24 Mar. 2002)

• Corporations challenged by reparations activists [USA]:..So far, the reparations legal team has publicly identified five companies it says have slave ties: insurers Aetna, New York Life and AIG and financial giants J.P. Morgan Chase Manhattan Bank and FleetBoston Financial Group...Independently, USA TODAY has found documentation tying several others to slavery: Investment banks Brown Bros. Harriman and Lehman Bros.; Railroads Norfolk Southern, CSX, Union Pacific and Canadian National; Textile maker WestPoint Stevens; Newspaper publishers Knight Ridder, Tribune, Media General, Advance Publications, E.W. Scripps and Gannett, parent and publisher of USA TODAY...USA TODAY contacted all the companies named in this article. Some acknowledged the evidence, others disputed it. Many declined comment. Of those that did comment, virtually all said the current company isn't liable for what happened before the Civil War. (James Cox, USA Today, 21 Feb. 2002)

• Farmer-Paellmann not afraid of huge corporations [USA]: Deadria Farmer-Paellmann has spent five years digging for evidence that ties Corporate America to pre-Civil War slavery. She confronted Aetna in 2000. (James Cox, USA Today, 21 Feb. 2002)

• Insurance firms issued slave policies [USA]: Various documents link modern companies to antebellum slavery. Reporter James Cox takes a look at the evidence and the companies' responses. (James Cox, USA Today, 21 Feb. 2002)

• Firms own dailies that were vital to slave economy [USA]: Many of the USA's largest newspaper companies own dailies that were vital to the slave economy. Antebellum-era newspapers ran ads that promised reward money for the capture of escaped slaves, offered slaves for sale or sought slaves for purchase. (James Cox, USA Today, 21 Feb. 2002)

• FleetBoston: Traced to slave-trading merchant [USA] (James Cox, USA Today, 21 Feb. 2002)

• Brown Bros.: Loans gave planters cash to buy slaves [USA] (James Cox, USA Today, 21 Feb. 2002)

• Lehman Bros: 1 brother owned 7 slaves in 1860 [USA] (James Cox, USA Today, 21 Feb. 2002)

• Rail networks own lines built with slave labor [USA]: North America's four major rail networks — Norfolk Southern, CSX, Union Pacific and Canadian National — all own lines that were built and operated with slave labor. (James Cox, USA Today, 21 Feb. 2002)

• Textile firm [WestPoint Stevens] linked to 'Negro cloth' for slaves [USA] (James Cox, USA Today, 21 Feb. 2002)

• Reparations Coordinating Committee members (USA Today, 21 Feb. 2002)