
After the end of the Civil War, Brown continued to write, publishing three volumes on Black history, a novel, travelogues, a play, and a collection of abolitionist songs. Brown, a Fugitive Slave,” which was widely read and revered.ĭue to the threat of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, he went to England for five years. That same year he published his “Narrative of William W. In 1847 he was hired by the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society as a public speaker and moved to Boston. In the 1840s, Brown joined the abolitionist movement, attending conventions, working on committees, and giving speeches. He went to Buffalo, NY, where he worked on steamboats and assisted in the work of the Underground Railroad. Brown was finally able to escape on New Year’s Day in 1834. She was shipped south to New Orleans and he never saw her again. In one of his numerous attempts to escape, he and his mother were caught. Much of his childhood was spent working in St. William Wells Brown was born in bondage in 1814. Source: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College ’: Teaching a People’s History of the Abolition Movement.” William Wells BrownĮngraving by John Chester Buttre. This collection is not comprehensive, indeed there are many more Black abolitionists who fought against slavery, assisted people in the Underground Railroad, or supported the movement in a myriad of ways. Learn more about the abolition movement, outside the textbook, in the lesson, “ ‘If There Is No Struggle. To counter the invisibility of Black abolitionists who were central to the abolition movement and the ending of slavery, we feature two dozen Black abolitionists here. It’s a fantastic primary source and would be ideal in a high school journalism program.Textbooks and state curricula devote little attention to the abolition movement, let alone to Black abolitionists. This book is a collection of student journalism written in freedom schools. The mission of these schools was to help organize Black people in the south to achieve greater equality. In Mississippi during the summer of 1964, Black students in the south enrolled in Freedom Schools, temporary schools that were part of the greater civil rights movement. Infinite Hope: A Black Artist’s Journey from World War II to Peace Just so you know, we may get a small share of the sales made through the links on this page.

At a time when the nation is amplifying melanated voices, readers may want to prioritize books written by Black authors when selecting from this list.įor books about Black people fighting for equal rights in the modern era, check out this list of 50 books about race to read right now.

Many of these books have been written by Black authors, but it is important to note that the publishing industry still publishes more books about Black and Brown people written by White authors than it does books about the Black experience written in Black voices. There are Black history books on this list about black people fighting for equal rights during the revolutionary war and the civil war, during the Jim Crow Era, and post-segregation.

Here is a collection of books for all ages about the historic struggle of Black people. The current Black Lives Matter movement is the latest in a centuries-long struggle against slavery, then oppression, hatred, and systemic racism for black Americans.
