Amazon.com
When quiltmaker Ozella McDaniels told Jacqueline Tobin of the Underground Railroad Quilt Code, it sparked Tobin to place the tale within the history of the Underground Railroad. Hidden in Plain View documents Tobin and Raymond Dobard's journey of discovery, linking Ozella's stories to other forms of hidden communication from history books, codes, and songs. Each quilt, which could be laid out to air without arousing suspicion, gave slaves directions for their escape. Ozella tells Tobin how quilt patterns like the wagon wheel, log cabin, and shoofly signaled slaves how and when to prepare for their journey. Stitching and knots created maps, showing slaves the way to safety.
The authors construct history around Ozella's story, finding evidence in cultural artifacts like slave narratives, folk songs, spirituals, documented slave codes, and children's' stories. Tobin and Dobard write that "from the time of slavery until today, secrecy was one way the black community could protect itself. If the white man didn't know what was going on, he couldn't seek reprisals." Hidden in Plain View is a multilayered and unique piece of scholarship, oral history, and cultural exploration that reveals slaves as deliberate agents in their own quest for freedom even as it shows that history can sometimes be found where you least expect it. --Amy Wan
Book Description
The fascinating story of a friendship, a lost tradition, and an incredible discovery, revealing how enslaved men and women made encoded quilts and then used them to navigate their escape on the Underground Railroad.
"A groundbreaking work."--Emerge
In
Hidden in Plain View, historian Jacqueline Tobin and scholar Raymond Dobard offer the first proof that certain quilt patterns, including a prominent one called the Charleston Code, were, in fact, essential tools for escape along the Underground Railroad. In 1993, historian Jacqueline Tobin met African American quilter Ozella Williams amid piles of beautiful handmade quilts in the Old Market Building of Charleston, South Carolina. With the admonition to "write this down," Williams began to describe how slaves made coded quilts and used them to navigate their escape on the Underground Railroad. But just as quickly as she started, Williams stopped, informing Tobin that she would learn the rest when she was "ready." During the three years it took for Williams's narrative to unfold--and as the friendship and trust between the two women grew--Tobin enlisted Raymond Dobard, Ph.D., an art history professor and well-known African American quilter, to help unravel the mystery.
Part adventure and part history,
Hidden in Plain View traces the origin of the Charleston Code from Africa to the Carolinas, from the low-country island Gullah peoples to free blacks living in the cities of the North, and shows how three people from completely different backgrounds pieced together one amazing American story.
Customer Reviews:
Myth, legend or history?.......2007-05-27
I have read pros and cons on the authenticity of this book and remain convinced it is a novel lacking authentic historical documentation. Some of the quilt patterns mentioned did not exist prior to 1900 and the story tellers are unavailable or deceased. Although several respected quilt historians believe the author's tales, I choose to accept Barbara Brackman's statement in her book "Facts and Fabrications...Unraveling the History of Quilts and Slavery." Ms. Brackman wrote on page 7 of her book "We have no historical evidence that quilts were used as signal, codes or maps. The tale of quilts and the Underground Railroad makes a good story, but not good quilt history." The book is a slow read and repetitive.
Not a shred of evidence!.......2007-03-22
Having personally had the privilege to study with three of the Underground Railroad's top historians: David Blight, James Horton, and Lois Horton; All three said that there is not a shred of evidence supporting the idea that quilts served as maps. Quilts were however sewn and sold as fundraisers for abolitionist groups.
Fakelore - absolutely no evidence to back up this story.......2007-03-12
Just do a search on the internet for underground railroad quilts and you will find many web sites that debunk the myths set forth in this book. Although the concept is appealing, there is absolutely no evidence other than one woman's story to back it up. Almost all underground railroad historians and quilt historians label this book as FICTION, not fact! There is so much factual material to learn about the Underground Railroad - it is an insult to the history of black Americans to perpetuate a myth.
Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad.......2007-02-19
Very interesting book, not quite what I had expected. The book traces the story line of a particular person, along with the different perspectives of educators and their arguments of the authenticity of the patterns and their meanings.
I would recommend the book to anyone who enjoys quilting, along with an interest in American History and the importance of the Underground Railroad post Civil War.
Wonderful Reading ! Highly Recommended !.......2006-09-08
I learned about this book through the drama department at my church. We are putting on a play based on the story of the quilt code presented here. I was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina. I have visited this booth many times. As an African American and a descendent of survivors of slavery, I understand the concept of an unwritten oral history. So much of my family history that has been handed done orally by the elders in my family would probably be unbelievable also. But that does not mean that it did not occur. The Timeline, Glossary, and Bibliography are excellent tools. This book has helped the cast to start discussions and learn more about this era in United States history.
Amazon.com
When 77 slaves attempted a daring escape down the Potomac River in a schooner called the Pearl in 1848, the nation's capital--especially the dozens of prominent citizens whose domestic slaves had disappeared--was shaken by the news. In returning to this audacious but largely forgotten episode in Escape on the Pearl, Mary Kay Ricks follows the stories of many of the slaves who made the perilous attempt and in the telling gives a short history of the last decades of American slavery and the country it divided. But most fascinating is her portrait of Washington, D.C., in the years before the Civil War, where North and South came together on territory where slavery was still legal, and where, for the African American residents of the city, the relative freedoms of the North and the terrors of transport to the brutal plantation slavery of the Deep South felt equally close.
Escape on the Pearl is Mary Kay Ricks's first book, after years of research on abolitionism and local D.C. history. For our Grownup School feature she has recommended the 11 books to read on the Underground Railroad, and she also answered a few of our questions about her book:
Questions for Mary Kay Ricks
Amazon.com: How did you first come across the story of the escape on the Pearl?
Mary Kay Ricks: While researching 19th-century Washington history for a different project, I kept stumbling on references to an escape attempt on a schooner named the Pearl that set off pro-slavery riots in the streets of Washington. The incident went on to spark fierce debate on slavery in Congress--a discussion it always worked hard to avoid. I was a co-founder of Washington, D.C.'s High School Friends of SNCC during the civil rights struggle of the 1960's, so I thought I was well-versed in the struggle for freedom. Yet I had never heard the story of the Pearl, nor had most people I knew. I began researching the escape, and eventually accrued much material, even letters--never analyzed in connection with the story--that described much of the planning of the escape. I had to write this book.
Amazon.com: It was an explosive story at the time. What did the news represent for American society when it broke in 1848?
Ricks: The capture of a schooner attempting to take nearly 80 enslaved Americans to freedom on a schooner represented a breakdown of order and an organized resistance to slavery in the nation's capital that served as a harbinger of the growing conflict that would lead to the Civil War. At the same time, discussions in Congress were becoming increasingly fractious over whether slavery could be extended to the vast swath of new territory that had just come under the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government at the conclusion of the Mexican War. Southern politicians clamored to extend slavery into those lands and Northern politicians began to come together for the first time, for a variety of different reasons, to demand that it remain free soil. It was this struggle over whether those new lands would be free, slave, or a mix of each that led directly to the Civil War.
Amazon.com: One striking thing to me about the society you describe was that there wasn't a clean line between slavery and freedom. Families--even married couples--were divided between slave and free, some slaves were working for wages to buy their freedom, and free blacks, especially after the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, were always in danger of being reclaimed into slavery. What did freedom mean for African Americans before the Civil War, and what did they do to achieve it?
Ricks: Freedom, verified by legal papers that free people were required to carry on their persons, meant that you couldn't readily be taken away and sold to a slave trader, that you had some say in where you lived and worked, and that you could possibly work hard enough to raise money to free loved ones who were still enslaved. Purchasing freedom was a project fraught with obstacles. To give an example of just how costly slaves could be, Paul Edmonson, the free father of six children who joined the Pearl escape, owned a 40-acre farm in Maryland that was valued less than any of those children was as a slave. (All 14 Edmonson children were enslaved because their mother was a slave--that was the universal law in slave jurisdictions.) Enslaved African-Americans attempting to purchasing freedom were always at an extreme disadvantage because the arrangement relied on the good faith of an owner. Slave testimonies are filled with accounts of slaves who had paid all but the last few installments on their freedom when the owner changed the terms of the contract or ignored it completely and sold the nearly free person to a trader. And the death of owner could change everything as heirs worked to undo any promises of emancipation. That happened to 11 members of the Bell family who took their chances on the Pearl.
Fear of sale or removal to the Lower South was very real. In a little known American exodus, nearly one million slaves from the Upper South were part of a forced migration to new lands, which often separated them from loved ones who were owned by different people. Slaves often knew the warning signs that their owner was looking to sell, and some were able to find contacts for passage on the Underground Railroad. But it was simply unfeasible for large numbers of slaves, even those in the Upper South, to reach freedom. Money and other resources were extremely limited and escape usually meant splitting up families, the one thing that the enslaved attempted to avoid at all cost. Escape was also terribly risky and could land a fugitive, if captured, in a worse situation in the Deep South. That is what made the Pearl escape all the more extraordinary. And for those who did successfully reach the North, there was no guarantee that they would remain free. When the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was passed, more than 20,000 fugitives from slavery who had lived in the Northern states for years packed their bags and moved to Canada. Freedom meant leaving your homes and the country you were born in.
Amazon.com: Last year, James Swanson's Manhunt painted a vivid picture of Washington, D.C., at the end of the Civil War as a small town that is hard to recognize from our perspective. Your book could be seen as a prequel to that book in a way, both in its story of how we got to the Civil War and its same close attention to the geography of the capital city. What was the Washington you describe like in the 1840s?
Ricks: Before the Civil War, Washington was a city where the majority of politicians lived in boarding houses and hotels. Neighborhoods had popped up like isolated gopher holes where a few gleaming white-marble buildings rose out of the mud surrounded by small wooden and brick houses on streets rife with loose geese, pigs, and even cows. The Capitol, the U.S. Patent Office (today's newly refurbished Portrait Gallery and Museum of American Art), the Executive Mansion, and the Post Office (now a hip downtown hotel) were then and are now spectacularly beautiful buildings. But much of the city, in contrast, looked bleak. Only Pennsylvania Avenue was paved. In 1848, long after New York, Boston, Baltimore, and even Newark had gas lighting, Congress had only just approved the formation of the Washington Gas Light Company. But theatre was popular and so were bowling, billiards, and gambling. Although many described Washington as a backwater with little sophistication, the newspaper advertisements show a surprising range of goods and foods from imported food delicacies, wines, and sherry to piano fortes. Pharmacies were well-stocked with supplies of Swedish leeches. But enormous changes would come with the Civil War. The population in the District of Columbia, about 51,000 in 1850, nearly trebled to over 130,000 by 1870. Many whites who had come to Washington for war jobs decamped the overburdened and rundown city after the war. But the 40,000 African Americans who had fled the Confederacy stayed.
Amazon.com: You share a last name with two of the fugitive slaves on the Pearl (and with some of their descendants)? Was that just a happy coincidence, or have you found a connection between their families and yours? What connections has writing about this story made for you?
Ricks: Two fugitives of the Pearl shared my last name but were not owned by people named Ricks. In fact, not one of the fugitives on board the Pearl shared a surname with an owner. My husband's family arrived in Virginia sometime in the mid-17th century as Quakers and became slave owners. They later became Baptists, probably when the Society of Friends forbade slave-owning. Harriet Beecher Stowe's Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin includes a copy of a runaway slave advertisement placed by one of my husband's ancestors. It is more likely that the fugitives on the Pearl, both of whom were transported to New Orleans with the Edmonsons, were descended from slaves who been owned at some time by a different branch of the English Ricks family who had come into Maryland many years before.
Interestingly, my family and I now feel very connected to an African-American couple from Maryland named Vernon and Janet Ricks, who are members of Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in Georgetown, a congregation which was formed in 1816 as the first black church in the District of Columbia and figures prominently in my book. Vernon Ricks, who may well be related to the two men who took a chance for freedom in 1848, and his wife are very active in their church, the NAACP, and many civic organizations. I worked with Vernon and Janet, Mt. Zion, the National Park Service, and a consortium of Georgetown organizations when I wrote and directed an historical recreation of an 1858 escape on the Underground Railroad to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the tobacco port that is now a part of the District of Columbia. Vernon took on the role of Alfred Pope, a member of Mt. Zion and one of the few Pearl fugitives who had not been sold south after capture, and Janet played his wife. Later, my family was invited to a special Sunday at Mt. Zion to honor the Ricks family that had been part of that congregation for several generations. When the Ricks family members in the church were asked to rise, my husband and I, his parents, and our two children rose as well.
Book Description
On the evening of April 15, 1848, seventy-seven slaves attempted one of history's most audacious escapes—and put in motion a furiously fought battle over slavery in America that would consume Congress, the streets of the capital, and the White House itself. Setting sail from Washington, D.C., on a schooner named the Pearl, the fugitives began a daring 225-mile journey to freedom in the North. Mary Kay Ricks's unforgettable chronicle brings to life the Underground Railroad's largest escape attempt, the seemingly immutable politics of slavery, and the individuals who struggled to end it. All the while, Ricks focuses her narrative on the intimate story of two young sisters who were onboard the Pearl, and sets their struggle for liberation against the powerful historical forces that would nearly tear the country apart.
After a terrifyingly calm night, the wind came up as the sun rose the next morning, and the small schooner shot off down the Potomac River. Hours later, stunned owners—including a former first lady, a shipping magnate, a former congressman, a federal marshal, and a Baptist minister—raised the alarm. Authorities quickly formed a posse that chased the fugitives down the river. But with a head start and a robust wind that filled their sails, the Pearl raced ahead—unaware that a violent squall was moving into their path and would halt their bid for freedom.
Escape on the Pearl reveals the incredible odyssey of those who were onboard, including the remarkable lives of fugitives Mary and Emily Edmonson, the two sisters at the heart of the story, who would trade servitude in elite Washington homes for slave pens in three states. Through the efforts of the sisters' father and the northern "conductor" who had helped organize the escape, an abolitionist outcry arose in the North, calling for the two girls to be rescued. Ultimately, Mary and Emily would go on to stand shoulder to shoulder with such abolitionist luminaries as Frederick Douglass and attend Oberlin College under the sponsorship of Harriet Beecher Stowe.
A story of courage and determination, Escape on the Pearl revives one of the most poignant chapters of U.S. history. The Edmonsons, the other fugitives of the Pearl, and those who helped them can now take their rightful place as American heroes.
Customer Reviews:
A well told tale.......2007-09-11
Here is an account of one of the boldest attempts of slaves to free themselves. In April 1848 dozens simultaneously fled from Washington, DC, in a sailing vessel provided by white sympathizers. All were captured, but the well organized attempt startled the public North and South. The author fills out the story with background about slavery in the nation's capital, and traces some of the era's major political developments relevant to human bondage. The book is informative and an easy read.
More Than a Failed Escape.......2007-03-09
This is a gripping tale.
While the book's title highlights the 1848 escape attempt on the Pearl, the contents of the book encompass much, much more. There's the story of a slave family - the Edmonsons - which Ricks follows from before the courageous but unsuccessful flight to freedom all the way into present-day Washington, DC. There's an engrossing overview of abolitionism and its firey, impatient and ultimately triumphant adherents. Ricks presents her readers with a compelling description of the underground railway. Washington is presented as the small southern town that it was then, with illuminating detail. She brings to life the mid-nineteenth century context with its wrangling and maneuvering and unforgettable characters. It was a hell of a time and she gets it.
The small hard kernel of yearning and determination that impelled this particular journey by these particular people inspires us. Here, too, is a great and continuing irony of history: Some human beings are capable of enslaving others; at the same time different human beings strive passionately to free others; still others fight to free themselves.
'Escape on the Pearl' is a terrific read.
Edward Ball loves this book.......2007-02-15
This is a great book. But don't take my word for it - Edward Ball, author of the bestseller Slaves in the Family, says "My kind of Southern history looks at slavery through people, and Mary Kay Ricks puts you on a first-name basis with the remarkable Edmonson family, who went through a mass escape, the near prostitution of two daughters, and a great homecoming. And she's found their descendants, who will tell you all about it." (quoted on the back of Escape on the Pearl).
Splendid Book, Fascinating Research.......2007-02-11
The author's knowledge of her subject is remarkable, her writing is graceful, and her judgments are consistently sound. This book is a great read, an exciting tale framed by a sharp, balanced and sensible portrayal of an era of shame, ferment and change in our history. Ricks's literal knowledge of the streets of which she writes makes this book vibrate with authenticity. I enjoyed it consistently--and learned enormously from reading Escape On The Pearl. Since I write fictional accounts of the period myself under the pen-name Owen Parry, I realize how complex a subject this author has taken on--and I can only say that it's humbling to see another writer do a far-better job than one can ever hope to do. This book deserves wide attention and, as readers, let us hope that Ricks will return to the period for additional books in the future.
discerning insightful look at the abomination of slavery.......2007-02-10
In 1848 some residents of Washington DC owned slaves though many others opposed the "curious institution". In April, conductors on the Underground Railroad try a bold freedom run using the Pearl to take seventy-seven runaway "fugitives" to freedom in the north. However, a terrible storm on the Chesapeake doomed the mission. The sheriff arrested the freedom fighters and took the recaptured slaves back to their owner who sent them to New Orleans for sale. Another twist returns the slaves to DC where Preacher and staunch abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher made efforts to get them freed and his daughter Harriet Beecher Stowe used their plight as part of her reference notes published as the Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, two years after the classic was released.
This is a complex at times convoluted look back at a major incident of its time that has somewhat lost its significance over the subsequent century and a half. The book gets inside the heads of the slaves, slave sellers, slave owners, the Stowes and the Underground Railroad conductors. However, most fascinating besides the link to Harriet Beecher Stowe's classic is the way the citizens in the metropolitan DC area looked at slavery. Historical readers need to set aside some time because though difficult to follow because of how complex the events leading to, the event itself, and the subsequent aftereffect and outcome are, this is a discerning insightful look at the abomination of slavery.
Harriet Klausner
Book Description
It was the day before Independence Day, 1831. As his bride, Lucie, was about to be “sold down the river” to the slave markets of New Orleans, young Thornton Blackburn planned a daring—and successful—daylight escape from Louisville. But they were discovered by slave catchers in Michigan and slated to return to Kentucky in chains, until the black community rallied to their cause. The Blackburn Riot of 1833 was the first racial uprising in Detroit history.
The couple was spirited across the river to Canada, but their safety proved illusory. In June 1833, Michigan’s governor demanded their extradition. The Blackburn case was the first serious legal dispute between Canada and the United States regarding the Underground Railroad. The impassioned defense of the Blackburns by Canada’s lieutenant governor set precedents for all future fugitive-slave cases.
The Blackburns settled in Toronto and founded the city’s first taxi business. But they never forgot the millions who still suffered in slavery. Working with prominent abolitionists, Thornton and Lucie made their home a haven for runaways. The Blackburns died in the 1890s, and their fascinating tale was lost to history. Lost, that is, until a chance archaeological discovery in a downtown Toronto school yard brought the story of Thornton and Lucie Blackburn again to light.
Customer Reviews:
A Must Read!.......2007-08-26
One would have to read this book several times to completely absorb its multifarious layers, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
First and foremost, it is the compelling life story of Thornton and Lucie Blackburn. They escaped from slavery boldly using forged documents to travel by steamboat to Cincinnati (appropriately arriving on July 4) then settled in Detroit and were subsequently incarcerated under the Fugitive Slave Law. The community (white and black) rose up in their defense, sparking what history records as "The Blackburn Riots of 1833." After their hair raising escape to Canada and subsequent incarceration while appealing extradition under provisions of the Fugitive Offenders Act, they finally settled in Toronto, where Blackburn established the first cab company. The couple acquired affluence and influence - though they always lived modestly - and assisted many other refugees escaping slavery and intolerance before, during and after the Civil War.
Equally fascinating is the process by which their life story was reconstructed. Both Thornton and Lucie remained illiterate, and no one recorded their memoirs. This book is the result of over 20 years of painstaking research and - as the author states in the introduction - no small amount of "historical coalescence." It perfectly illustrates the creative approach historians must take when attempting to break through what genealogists call "The Wall of Slavery." The author relies on everything from Bibles to court documents to glean information and put all the pieces together, and her extensive bibliography alone is worth the price of the book.
While detailing the Blackburn's encounters with the legal system of the time, the author explores the evolution of jurisprudence in both countries: to maintain the Peculiar Institution in the states, and to guarantee civil liberties (and in no small part, autonomy from the U.S.) in Canada. Some slave owners doggedly expended inordinate amounts of time and money to retrieve their "property" and to punish anyone who might have aided their escape. Consequently, there are voluminous court documents related to the Blackburns as their owners pursued them here and abroad, and legal precedents were set which still have impact today. For example, people are often surprised to learn the Ohio River is actually part of Kentucky - that boundary was established to ensure this particular "highway to freedom" remained "slave territory" and this decision was relevant in the lawsuit filed against the steamboat captain and his company.
For American readers, the fact that this book is written from a Canadian's perspective adds yet another interesting layer. (Oh, to see ourselves as others see us!) Yet while pointing out the obvious hypocrisy inherent in U.S. "freedom," Frost does not turn a blind eye to racism and hypocrisy among Canadians. She notes that while Toronto harbored fugitive slaves, it also welcomed slaveholders and Confederate soldiers seeking asylum during the Civil War. Doubly mind boggling is the fact that the Blackburns had personal connections with some of them...and a few of them probably rode in his cab.
In the standard American narrative, slaves escape to Canada and vanish from our story. While many - heartened by the promise of Reconstruction - returned to the United States to reunite with family after the war (only to migrate north again as Jim Crow and sharecropping reinstated the antebellum power structure) the Blackburns lived three-quarters of their highly productive lives as African-Canadians. This book and the work which went into creating it are welcome revelations. I hope they inspire further research into the lives of those who crossed over into Canaan Land.
NB The book describes the role played by the Blackburns in the development of the Elgin Settlement and Buxton Mission, a colony for fugitive slaves south of Chatham. The modern village of North Buxton is still home to about 200 descendants. Several years ago I visited the Buxton Historic Site and Museum and highly recommend it...plan to spend several hours! BuxtonMuseum dot com
An absorbing story.......2007-08-13
Canada's role relative to slavery in the United States - little-known by Americans - is excellently told through the life story of a couple born in slavery. The Blackburns' escape from slavery calls out for dramatization in a movie or at least on PBS' "American Experience." It would also make a fine children's book.
A Kentucky-Canada Story.......2007-05-11
I cannot overstate the importance of this book. It is a moving, heart-wrenching story. Additionally the Kentucky material was of particular interest to me since my own ancestors were in Mason COunty, KY for a good portion of the story of Thornton Blackburn. I have not finished reading it as of this writing.
Book Description
The Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes was formed in 1895 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Comprised of the sons and grandsons of runaway American slaves, the league helped pioneer the sport of ice hockey, changing this winter game from the primitive "gentleman's past-time" of the nineteenth century to the modern fast moving game of today. In an era when many believed blacks could not endure cold, possessed ankles too weak to effectively skate, and lacked the intelligence for organized sport, these men defied the established myths.
The Colored League was one of the most complex sports organizations ever created and was led by Baptist ministers and church laymen. Natural leaders and proponents of black pride, these men represented a concept in sports never before seen. Their rule book was The Bible. Their game book, the coded words and oral history derived from the experiences of American slavery and the Underground Railroad. Their strategy, the principles and teachings of American black leader Booker T. Washington (the founder of the Tuskegee Institute) and a believer in the concept of racial equality through racial separation.
Twenty-five years before the Negro Baseball Leagues in the United States, and twenty-two years before the birth of the National Hockey league, the Colored League would emerge as a premier force in Canadian hockey and supply the resilience necessary to preserve a unique culture which exists to this day. Unfortunately their contributions were conveniently ignored, or simply stolen, as white teams and hockey officials, influenced by the black league, copied elements of the black style or sought to take self-credit for black hockey innovations.
Seven years of research has gone into this book. This is the first book ever written on the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes.
Customer Reviews:
Great Story, but this book has so much more.......2007-04-23
Being a diehard hockey fan and history teacher, I bought this book wanting to learn more of the history of the game, but the historical perspective of the establishment of blacks in Canada and the development of their communities is a great addition that I did not foresee.
If you are looking for chronicals of the games and league alone, this book is not for you. Only a few chapters are dedicated to these accounts. But, if you can appreciate historical ideas that may challenge your previous assumptions during this era, I would highly recommend, Black Ice.
where can i find this book>??.......2007-04-01
i saw the story about this book that was shown on espn. As a student who is pursuing a masters in history and a loyal hockey fan, this book would have been a very interesting/enjoyable read for me. I am disappointed though that I cannot find this book anywhere. what gives amazon? I figured with the promotion of this book seen on espn this book would be readily available. thats not the case. i still hope to someday read this book as the authors have put vast amounts of time and effort in the rearching of this topic to write a great book of history.
Book Description
In a question-and-answer format, the reader is introduced to what the underground railroad was and how it was used between 1830 and 1860 to help slaves in America escape to the North.
Customer Reviews:
An Epic book.......2006-07-05
The book cites a different time.... a different place... what if you were there?
Before the popular fads we see on the net such as the mullet man time traveler, ytmnd war on ebaum, Riding Spinners, or even before a boxer had his bike stolen, this book tells the tale of the struggling era of America... The underground railroad. Was it really an underground railroad?
The book has nice coloured pictures for kids to easily visualize and the narration is great.
How to Escape the Underground Railroad.......2002-05-10
Cuando yo estaba leendo este libro estaba triste porque
tratan muy mal a los esclavos. A mi nunca me gustria ser
un esclavo porque en el libro dice que si tratas de escaparte
te van a cortar tus dos pies.
El mensaje que yo les etoy dando es que yo no quiero ir
donde estan los esclavos porque pueden usarme para un esclavo.
Eso es porque si yo y mis amigos tratamos de escaparnos nos
van a cortar los pies y eso no quiero que me pase.
Las buenas noticias es que el Abraham Lincoln dejo los
esclavos libres porque le daba mucha lastima y el Abraham Lincoln hizo la buena cosa porque si no lo hubiera hecho mis amigos y yo no hubieramos existido. Las malas noticias es que casi todos los esclavos se murieron.
Mi opinion del libro es que yo si recomiendo este libro a jente
porque a lo mejor ellos nunca sabian que les cortan sus pies.
An excellent source of UGRR info for children and adults!.......1999-09-16
As the director of an Underground Railroad museum, I am always looking for clear, concise materials for the public to use. This book is being added to our new education program, for use in elementary schools in our area. The facts are presented in an easy-to-read fashion, and anyone, adult or child, is able to pick up valuable information without being threatened by the reading level of the book. The text is not condescending in any fashion, yet moves easily enough for a 5-year-old child to sit through a reading of the entire book and ask questions provoked by the material being presented. I would recommend "If You Traveled the Underground Railroad" to anyone interested in giving children something of substance to read. We sell these books in our museum and cannot keep the supply high enough to meet the demand!
It was okay........1999-08-31
In the book, If You traveled on the Underground Railroad, it tells you how fugitives got the Underground Railroad started and what they did on the way. One question was,"Why did they call it the Underground Railroad?" "A man named Tice Davids was running from his owner that lived in Kentucky. Davids swam across a river to get to a small town in Ohio. The owner was hot on his trail. Davids suddenly disappeared whn he went around a turn. The owner searched everywhere he could have been, but he couldn't find him. He gave up and went home. When he got back, he told his other family members that he "must've went on an Underground Railroad!" The book tells you what happened if the slaves and conductors were caught. To find out more,read this book.
Book Description
This book discusses the "plantation mentality" that is causing Americans to become co-dependent. It is historical however does look at the authors personal journey from a Berekely militant to a conservative businessman.
Customer Reviews:
Sensational!!!!!!!.......2006-09-05
He hit's the real points of why Black America dosen't try to succeed and the growing problems of our attitudes that hold us back.
FREEDOM TEACHING.......2005-09-20
This book is a must for those who truly want to know about what freedom is. Without listing them, Weaver explains the value of political, economic, and spiritual freedom. If there were more people like him, we would not have a society that so readily accepts mediocracy.
His book confirms what many people are and have been sensing for a while..... the watering down of our history and a dombing down of our children (and adults, black, white, or whatever) so we will not know how to battle the obstacles of the future.
The Untainted Truth!.......2005-08-01
What a great book! It clarifies major problems in American society in a manner that does not taint facts with emotions. Weaver is a true man making his own way in America despite being surrounded with "Can't do" attitudes. A great read for anyone! This book will change your perspective on life!
A book for anyone and not only the black people........2003-10-17
These it's not only for black americans, but to latin people too, we have too much to think from here.
We in history instead of being a "slave" working in the plantations, were servants in a ranch, and being said that, the rest it's the same in our countries, the ones that feel "I deserve this, so you the goverment must give it to me", and the ones that "earn it".
I'm from Mexico and I found this book a must read for everyone that wants to leave the plantation, you don't need the goverment to take care of you, you just have to try it and take care of you by yourself.
I wish this book were translated to spanish, so a lot of hispanic people could read it, I think we have a lot in common with this book.
Martin Luther King would be Proud.......2002-01-03
Many observers across the political spectrum--from Harry Stein to Jeff Jacoby--have remarked on the courage of black conservatives. Such valor is on bold display throughout C. Mason Weaver's short treatise.
Mr. Weaver's story is not all that uncommon: young liberal comes face-to-face with reality as he matures and suddenly realizes he is a conservative after all. However, such tergiversations are not permitted within the Black community--or at least not among self-appointed Black spokesmen nor the entrenched bureaucracies that survive on keeping racial hostility simmering. It is precisely this perpetual anger that Mr. Weaver defines as one of the most damaging detriments affecting the liberal Black "leaders." He unabashedly proclaims that "we should celebrate the victory instead of nagging about the need for the war."
There seems to be no taboo fact that he is unwilling to state. A proud and thoughtful Republican, he does not see the appellation "Party of the Rich" as a pejorative. He bluntly offers, "the Democrats were always taking from those mean `rich' people to help the poor...(while) the Republicans wanted as many of us wealthy as possible." He dismisses the fabricated Kwanzaa as "a make believe story full of errors and falsehoods,' but strongly advocates celebrating legitimate historical days of importance to the Black Community like Martin Luther King's Day. Such valid occasions are important to ALL Americans. He is unafraid about bringing up the true racism of certain liberal icons. Like the equally brilliant Reverend Jesse Lee Petersen, he openly discusses the prejudice of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger whose opinions earned her accolades in Nazi Germany. Demonstrating both in-your face honesty and enviable wit, he titles one of his sub-chapters, "The War on Poverty is Over--and Poverty Won." His denunciation of misguided welfare programs further exhibits his striking intellect.
As the title intimates, Mr. Weaver skillfully employs the semantics of slavery throughout his work. He sees the monolithic Black viewpoint demanded from the modern day so-called civil rights establishment as a present-day version of the plantation. Those who dare to think outside the accepted box are the heirs of those courageous souls who bolted their "masters'" cotton farms for freedom. Both sets of rebels were courageous and tenacious, and each group persevered through diligence and hard work which the author rightly argues is the only option that yields success.
Mr. Weaver's intelligent work was published five years ago. It is time to hear more erudite assessments from his patriotic and empowering voice.
Book Description
This extraordinary narrative offers a fresh perspective on the Underground Railroad as it traces the perilous journeys of fugitive ex–slaves from the United States to free black settlements in Canada.
The Underground Railroad was the passage to freedom for many slaves, but it was rife with dangers. There were dedicated conductors and safe houses, but also arduous nights in the mountains and days in threatening towns. For those who made it to Midnight (the code name given to Detroit), the Detroit River became a River Jordan—and Canada became their land of Canaan, the Promised Land where they could live freely in black settlements under the protection of British law. One of these settlements was known as Dawn.
In prose rich in detail and imagery, From Midnight to Dawn presents compelling portraits of the men and women who established the Railroad, and of the people who traveled it to find new lives in Canada. Some of the figures are well known, like Harriet Tubman and John Brown. But there are equally heroic, less familiar figures here as well, like Mary Ann Shadd, who became the first black female newspaper editor in North America, and Osborne Perry Anderson, the only black survivor of the fighting at Harpers Ferry.
From Midnight to Dawn evokes the turmoil and controversies of the time, reveals the compelling stories behind events such as Harpers Ferry and the Christian Resistance, and introduces the reader to the real–life “Uncle Tom” who influenced Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
An extraordinary examination of a part of American history that transcends national borders, From Midnight to Dawn will captivate readers with its tales of hope, courage, and a people’s determination to live equal under the law.
Amazon.com
This classic biography, called "unusually well written and moving" by Horn Book, is a vivid and accessible portrait of one of America's most inspiring heroes. The story of the courageous woman who guided over 300 slaves to freedom is told "with insight, style and a fine narrative skill," wrote the New York Times.
Book Description
Born a slave, Harriet Tubman dreamed of freedom. And through hard work and her willingness to risk everything-including her life-she was able to make that dream come true.But after making her escape, Harriet realized that her own freedom was not enough. So she became a conductor on the Underground Railroad, and devoted her life to helping others make the journey out of bondage. An invisible threat to plantation owners, she served as a symbol of strength and inspiration for her people. She was the legendary "Moses," delivering hundreds from the desert of slavery.With indisputable narrative skill, Ann Petry recreates the life of a woman of great strength, bravery, and unshakeable moral fiber.
Customer Reviews:
Good mid-level reader book.......2007-03-12
I got this book for my 3rd grade daughter who is reading slightly above grade level. The stories of Tubman's life were a bit dry (not really a dramatic telling), and the historical fact segments inserted into each chapter lacked context. But the general sense of the scope of her work on the railroad, her personal commitment, and the additional things she did in her life were generally well communicated. Readers certainly come away with a greater appreciation for Tubman's contribution despite numerous personal challenges.
Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad.......2006-01-26
The southern United States, in the 1800's was a land of the tobacco and cotton industry, and a land of slaves. Born in 1821, Harriet Tubman was born a slave in Maryland, and then she never thought that she would be the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad. Early as a child, Harriet, or Minta, as she was called, was often sold from person to person, after getting a blow to the head from her master, because she wouldn't help capture an escaped slave. In her later years, she escaped to the north and became a free person. Then, after she beomes free, she helps the slaves that she knows from her old home escape through the hidden passes thus becoming a conductor for the Underground Railroad. All was well until a new law is passed: The Fugitive Slave Law, a law in which any runaway slave in the free states can be brought back to their original masters. Because of this, Harriet Tubman starts to take her runaway passengers to St. Catherines, Canada, where all former slaves would be free from the Fugitive Slave Law. Soon, after taking large numbers of slaves to Canada, Harriet makes a huge decision to take her parents along with her on her next journey. After a hard, back-breaking journey, they finally make it to St. Catherines. However, after transporting close to 300 runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman ended her journey and started a new one serving as a spy and a nurse. Before and after dying in 1913, Harriet Tubman was recognized as a great person and as a "Moses" to many of the escaped slaves that she rescued. Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad, by Ann Petry, is a great biography that has suspense, adventure, and tells a great and accurate version of Harriet Tubman and her life.
Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad, is an excellent historical biography, full of suspense as to what will happen to the slaves. One good example of this is when Tubman is facing her master, ordering her to catch an escaped slave, and waiting to see what will happen should she not do so. Also, when Harriet tries to rescue her parents, Old Rit and Old Ben, you can't wait to find out what becomes of them. While stealing a horse and wagon to help her parents, Harriet comes face to face with the keeper of the horse stable. The reader will wonder what will happen next. Will she escape or will the keeper catch her?
This book also had a great portion of adventure. When Harriet had started out on her journey, she wandered out into a land that she had never saw before. She never knew what lied beyond a few miles or so. She ventured out and was always on guard of being caught by the slave patrols. The hardest part of Tubman's journeys and escapes was convincing her parents to flee, but eventually they are convinced and Tubman takes them as far as Canada.
Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad, by Ann Petry, does a good job in accurately describing and presenting the right dialogue for Harriet Tubman. Petry described Tubman as she is known from history, a short, muscular woman who had the strenght and heart to set her people free. Being called "Moses" for setting her people free from slavery, earned her name in history. The use of dialogue from the period also served in making the book more interesting.
Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad, by Ann Petry, is a great biography to read for not only the history, but for the adventure, the suspense, and the satisfaction that one person can make a difference. I rate this book a total of five stars out of five.
A. Chappell
Harriet Tubman Conductor on the Underground Railroad.......2005-12-29
This is a very well writen book. It discuses the main idea of being a slave in Harriet's time. I loved reading this book it was a good book for a Social Studies report. I enjoyed reading about her freeing slaves. I would recomend this book o anyone.
Harriet Tubman ***Conductor on the Underground Railroad.......2004-05-07
I liked my book because it tells you that women in the old days did alot of work.I liked the book because it talks about some of my history.I also,liked the book because she wasn't just thinking about her freedom but other peoples freedom too. The one thing I didn't like was that slavery exsisted in the first place. I also, didn't like the the book because if you ran away the master will hire people to chop off one of your body pieces.
Harriet Tubman-Conductor on the Underground Railroad.......2002-06-10
This book is basically about the life of the courageous Harriet Tubman. She was born a slave on a Maryland plantation. She grew up to become a woman of great moral courage. Harriet was the first to escape alone on the Underground Railroad to reach freedom, and then go back. She led over three hundred black men, women, and children past swamps, forests, rivers, and secret hiding places. Harriet Tubman never got caught, and never lost a passenger, and people that she helped called her "Moses."
The reason I had to read this book was for a class assignment. Our class assignment was called "Literature Circles." We were put into groups to read and discuss the book our teacher assigned us. Fortunately, we got this one. At first, I didn't think that this would be good book, but as I got in to it more, it became more interesting. It was an "okay" book.
My favorite part in the book was when they were talking about Harriet Greene a.k.a. Old Rit. When I read this certain part in the beginning it made me laugh. It was hilarious. They kept on talking about how many children she had. Also how and what they named their children. I don't know why, but I just thought that part was amusing.
Average customer rating:
- One of the great American novels
- One of the great books of the 20th century
- Life changing literature!
- Character + Narrative + History.... a gripping story.
- A superb and lasting work
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The Chaneysville Incident
David Bradley
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
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ASIN: 0060916818 |
Book Description
The legends say something happened in Chaneysville. The Chaneysville Incident is the powerful story of one man's obsession with discovering what that something was--a quest that takes the brilliant and bitter young black historian John Washington back through the secrets and buried evil of his heritage. Returning home to care for and then bury his father's closest friend and his own guardian, Old Jack Crawley, he comes upon the scant records of his family's proud and tragic history, which he drives himself to reconstruct and accept. This is the story of John's relationship with his family, the town, and the woman he loves; and also between the past and the present, between oppression and guilt, hate and violence, love and acceptance.
Customer Reviews:
One of the great American novels.......2005-01-01
This is one of the best books I have ever read. It is deeply steeped in both history and a profound sense of the limits of history. I think it has a justifiable claim to standing among the great American novels. It is well researched, and the product of a keen, nuanced, discriminating intellect that, one can tell, does not suffer fools gladly. It deals with our central American wounds, those of race and privilege. It does all of that good stuff that English teachers and critics love to rattle on about. It's just dang DEFENSIBLE on all levels as a piece of work. That being said, it would be easy to lose track of how good a novel it is. The characters are believable to me, the storytelling and the storytelling-within-the-storytelling is so rich, so deep and true, that it ends up being a good, resonant read. It satisfies the intellect, it satisfies the heart, and it keeps one reading.
I often think of this novel among the company of other novels, such as perhaps Huckleberry Finn or Moby Dick, that are slighted in their own time, their own first publication, only to have later generations say, "How did they not get it about this one?...How did they not realize what they had here?..." As with the above mentioned works, there are probably moments reading it when it feels like "work", that it feels like it's "not an easy book", but then you break through again to understanding and realize how glad you are that the author did not condescend to "easify".
I have given away many copies of this. It amazes me that it is ever out of print or hard to get hold of. It's truly one of the great stories, one of the great novels.
Buy it and read it and love it.
One of the great books of the 20th century.......2003-09-04
A favorite of mine for years. Bradley blends rich emotion with detached history to give a riveting portrait of black America, all through the eyes of a narrator who may or may not be fully rational. Readers can learn much about the actual history of America (the facts check out) as well as be riveted to a superb story.
Life changing literature!.......2002-10-13
The Chaneysville Incident was, for me, life altering. Reading it I determined to be a catalyst of change and not a victim throughout the rest of this earthly journey. I learned things about myself, my people and my purpose. If you are of African descent please read this book. If you are not of African descent please read this book. It is critical literature for contemporary America!
Character + Narrative + History.... a gripping story........2002-05-07
First,let me say my father's family was from the same part of Pennsylvania as author David Bradley, as well as the characters portrayed in "The Chaneysville Incident." Yes, those slave graves ARE on that farm. And yes, while there are those who debate the scenario surrounding those graves, Bradley's setting is entirely plausible, and his story was one that was undoubtedly acted out more than a few times in real life.
The Maryland/Pennsylvania border region has certainly had a speckled racial history, before and after the Civil War. Did slave-catchers make forays into Pennsylvania in the Ante-Bellum era? Yes. There is documentation. It was a socially complicated time, to say the least. If, for example, a southern landowner moved north above the Mason-Dixon, and wished to "keep" his human labor force, the slaves had to be legally contracted in the county for a period of indenture, usually including a freedom "purchase price" if the then former slave wished to leave his former owner. Freedmen had to carry papers, which, while documenting their status, didn't guarantee anything approaching the social status & mobility of whites. There were white families in the border townships of southern Pennsylvania, who, while they themselves didn't own slaves, had cousins and even siblings just over the border in Maryland who did. My dad's family was one like that. So, racially speaking, there was black, white, and a great deal of gray fogging the boundaries between the two.
When David Bradley's novel was first published, much of the reaction from his fellow Bedford Countians revolved around questions about the historical accuracy of his setting, coupled with the statements of "other-ness" made on behalf of the novel's main characters. Little attention was given to its overall truth as a novel, the artful way that Bradley lets the reader into the mind and perceptions of his protaganist, as he embarks on a journey of self-awareness and discovery. With him, we ask the questions "Who am I? What am I? How do I find out?
I do some work as an amateur historian and semi-professional genealogist. Time and again, I've run across stories contained in the lives of those long gone which live in the spaces between tombstones, which the names and dates only hinted at. The more you dig, and the more questions you ask, the closer you get to the truth. And, often the answers to questions you didn't even think to ask. Or were afraid to. "The Chaneysville Incident" takes the reader on such a journey, and opens an historical wound that is neither neat nor tidy. His characters are neither saints nor sinners, his sense of history is a good one, and his narrative is compelling. Read it, and then begin asking your own questions.
A superb and lasting work.......2001-08-01
The Chaneysville Incident is a great novel. Recognized immediately after its publication as an important work, it won the Penn-Faulkner award, and deservedly so. The story is powerful and expertly told, and the writing is exquisite--read the first sentence and you'll read the whole book. This book is about what we reap. What we've reaped, Bradley argues, is his main character, his historian formed by history.
Average customer rating:
- great book
- Didn't do their homework
- Excellent Read
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Who Was Harriet Tubman? (Who Was...?)
Yona Zeldis McDonough
Manufacturer: Grosset & Dunlap
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ASIN: 044842889X |
Book Description
Born a slave in Maryland, Harriet Tubman knew first-hand what it meant to be someone's property; she was whipped by owners and almost killed by an overseer. It was from other field hands that she first heard about the Underground Railroad which she travelled by herself north to Philadelphia. Throughout her long life (she died at the age of ninety-two) and long after the Civil War brought an end to slavery, this amazing woman was proof of what just one person can do.
Customer Reviews:
great book.......2006-03-10
i used this for my third graders book report and it was very informational and interesting.
Didn't do their homework.......2006-02-11
While much of the information is correct there are glaring mistakes throughout. The authors seem to rehash the same words from other publications, neither bringing something fresh nor accuracy to this story.
I feel if someone is going to write, whether for an elementary school child or a academic society they need to do their homework first and make sure their facts are straight. The pepuation of heresay with no substantiation is just not right!
Excellent Read.......2003-03-15
Yona Zeldis McDonough did a wonderful job describing "Who Was Harriet Tubman? I read this book as a part of a Social Studies Unit on African American History to my Kindergarten class they were totally immersed. Even though the audience of students were young. They still answered the comprehension questions that I frequently asked through out the book exceedingly well.
The reason why I selected McDonough's book over other books about Harriet Tubman was that it spoke of all aspects of history that occurred at that particular time.
As a child I had studied Nat Turner, Abraham Lincoln, and of course Harriet Tubman, but it was amazing how many historical events occurred that she was an active part of.
I feel that after reading this particular story that I have learned a great deal about an important icon in African American History, reading this book has enabled me to trace the beginnings of all beginnings. Harriet Tubman was truly a phenomenal women. She gave of herself again and again . . . By assisting others to freedom through The Underground Railroad, her service in the Union Army, and her many years of service as a nurse.
As I read this book to my class they emphasized that they could literally see the scenes as I was reading them. Some of the terminology was intense and I used appropriate wording to make it age-appropriate for my students.
Either way this is an excellent read for all -- and I hope to check out more books by this very informative author!
Books:
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
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- Icebreaker: Who Started the Second World War?
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- Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour
- Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour
- John Brown (Modern Library Classics)
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