Jesse Macy was born into a large Quaker family in Indiana on June 21, 1842. His family relocated to Lynnville, Iowa, in order to farm. Macy was educated, starting his college career at the age of 17 at nearby Iowa College (which would later become Grinnell College). When the Civil War broke out, he served in the Union Army. Afterwards, he returned to earn his degree in 1870. He enjoyed school and went on to pursue a PhD at Johns Hopkins University....

"No one knows where the term Underground Railroad came from--there were no trains or tracks, only "conductors" who helped escaping slaves to freedom. Including real stories about "passengers" on the "Railroad," this book chronicles slaves' close calls with bounty hunters, exhausting struggles on the road, and what they sacrificed for freedom. With 80 black-and-white illustrations throughout and a sixteen-page black-and-white photo insert, the Underground...

"The definitive, dramatic biography of the most important African-American of the nineteenth century: Frederick Douglass, the escaped slave who became the greatest orator of his day and one of the leading abolitionists and writers of the era. As a young man Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) escaped from slavery in Baltimore, Maryland. He was fortunate to have been taught to read by his slave owner mistress, and he would go on to become one of the major...

“My Bondage and My Freedom”, by Frederick Douglass. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics: • New introductions commissioned from today’s top writers and scholars • Biographies of the authors • Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events • Footnotes and endnotes • Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired...

Presents the life of the man who escaped slavery in Maryland to become a speaker and writer for abolition and the rights of African Americans and women, focusing on his childhood and youth as a slave. Born into slavery in Maryland in 1818, Frederick Douglass was determined to gain freedom -- and once he realized that knowledge was power, he secretly learned to read and write to give himself an advantage. After escaping to the North in 1838, as a...

A novel on John Brown, the slavery abolitionist, narrated by one of his 20 children. The narrator is his son Owen, who fought at his father's side and he tells the story in a series of letters to a biographer. Owen describes his father as a loving family man and provides insight into Brown's motives for becoming an abolitionist, including business failures.

Recreates the life of escaped slave Harriet Tubman, portraying her life as a slave, lumberjack, laundress, raid leader, nurse, Underground Railroad organizer, and abolitionist.

"Coretta Scott King Honor winner Bolden sheds light on new research and interpretations of one of America's most influential African Americans, focusing on Douglass the man rather than the historical icon. Full color and archival images." --

"The New York Vigilance Committee was organized by free blacks working with white abolitionists to protect blacks from kidnappers and slave catchers on the streets. Soon such committees proliferated in the North, and began a collaboration known as the underground railroad. Until now, their stories have remained largely unknown. Building on fresh evidence, Eric Foner elevates the underground railroad from folklore to history." --