Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Yesterday was Martin Luther King Day and we thought it would be pertinent to share some examples of the Library's African American and abolitionist authors...We found in our vault some WONDERFUL, early African American authors such as; Paul Laurence Dunbar(1872-1906) Mary Weston Fordham(1844–1905), W.E.B Du Bois(1868-1963), Booker T. Washington(1856-1915), Charles W. Chesnutt (1858-1932) and James Baldwin(1924-1987).

As for abolitionist writings, we found a copy of "The Freedmen's Book" by Lydia Maria Child(1802-1880) and an 1852 People's Illustrated Edition of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." by Harriet Beecher Stowe.
 
Mrs. Child was a well known author of journals, domestic guidebooks and fiction. She was also a friend, advisor and editor to African American author Harriet Jacobs(1813–1897) whose 1861 publication "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" made her the first woman author of a slave narrative in the United States.
 
Our copy of Mrs. Stowe's book was purchased in 1890 by William Godber Hinson and is full of 50 illustrations and newspaper clippings, such as reviews and other articles relating to the book that Mr. Hinson saw relevant.