A trailblazing memoir about one family's quest to face its slave-trading past, and an urgent call for reconciliation

In 2001, at age forty-seven, Thomas DeWolf was horrified to discover that he was related to the most successful slave-trading family in United States history, responsible for transporting at least 10,000 Africans. His most infamous ancestor, U.S. senator James De-Wolf of Bristol, Rhode Island, curried favor with Thomas Jefferson to continue in the trade after it was outlawed. He died the second-richest man in America in 1837.

When DeWolf's cousin Katrina Browne learned about their family's history, she was wracked with guilt. However, unlike others who might ignore their sordid legacy, she resolved to confront it head-on. Browne produced and directed a documentary feature film, Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North, in which she, Thomas, and eight other family members retraced the steps of their ancestors. Inheriting the Trade is Thomas DeWolf's powerful memoir of their journey.

Their extraordinary voyage through the notorious triangle trade route — from New England to West Africa to Cuba — proved a life-altering experience. Though DeWolf had never reflected on the trade before, he now faced the horrors of slavery in a direct and unmitigated way, forced to contend with the complicated legacy that continues to impact black and white Americans, Africans, and Cubans today.

"In the summer of 2001, Katrina Browne led nine distant family members on their own triangular passage as she made a documentary film (Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North) about their DeWolf ancestors, 'the largest slave-trading dynasty in early America' — who transported 10,000 Africans to America and the Caribbean between 1769 and 1820. DeWolf, one of Browne's cousins, traces the journey in this soul-searching memoir, beginning in Bristol, R.I., the hub of the late — 18th-century trade, and continuing to Ghana, Cuba and back to New England. At each station of the trip, the 'Family of Ten' visits historic sites, and distinguished historians address the group about aspects of the slave trade. DeWolf's account gains immediacy as he reports these presentations and the ensuing group discussions, along with their personal struggles to come to terms with an ignominious family history and his own sharp learning curve. His narrative, however, bogs down toward its conclusion in an irrelevant account of allegations of sexual harassment made against him and a digressive though thought-provoking discussion of reparations for slavery. Nevertheless, DeWolf promotes conversation about 'truth of the past and its impact on the present.'" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Author DeWolf discovered that he was a direct ancestor to one of the most successful slave traders in American history, and wrote this account to address the feelings that resulted. This story examines how DeWolf and his family confronted this legacy (one of his cousins actually made a documentary feature on the subject), and reveals the fact that the Northern States has just as much to do with the slave trade as the South. This emotional and complex book is aimed at general audiences. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

"Exploring the links between a grand Rhode Island mansion and dungeons in Ghana, Tom DeWolf traces the infernal trade that gave his family, and this country, great wealth and power. His journey into the past forces painful questions to the surface, and illuminates our present." Henry Wiencek, Winner of the National Book Critics' Circle Award and author of An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America

"Thomas DeWolf's personal journey into his family's long hidden slave trading past is a compelling invitation to explore how our country and many institutions, including churches, benefited from this dark chapter. Such exploration is essential if we are to move forward to a place of repair and racial reconciliation." Frank T. Griswold, 25th Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church

"Tom DeWolf's deeply personal story, of his own journey as well as his family's, is required reading for anyone interested in reconciliation. Healing from our historic wounds, that continue to separate us, requires us to walk this road together." Myrlie Evers-Williams, civil rights leader, chairman emeritus of the NAACP (1995-98), and author of The Autobiography of Medgar Evers

"[Inheriting the Trade is] like a slow-motion mash-up, a first-person view from within one of the country's founding families as it splinters, then puts itself back together again." Edward Ball, author of Slaves in the Family

"Inheriting the Trade is a candid, powerful and insightful book about how one family dealt with the infamous slave trade. This book is jarring in its candor, and revealing in its honest assessment of slavery and the DeWolf family. We must read important books like this one, if we dare to appreciate every aspect of our history, and as the DeWolf family does, dare to change our judgments about the wretched history of slavery." Professor Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., Executive Director, The Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School

"[A] soul-searching memoir." School Library Journal

In 2001, at forty-seven, Thomas DeWolf was astounded to discover that he was related to the most successful slave-trading family in American history, responsible for transporting at least 10,000 Africans to the Americas. His infamous ancestor, U.S. senator James DeWolf of Bristol, Rhode Island, curried favor with President Thomas Jefferson to continue in the trade after it was outlawed. When James DeWolf died in 1837, he was the second-richest man in America.

When Katrina Browne, Thomas DeWolf's cousin, learned about their family's history, she resolved to confront it head-on, producing and directing a documentary feature film, Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North.

Inheriting the Trade is Tom DeWolf's powerful and disarmingly honest memoir of the journey in which ten family members retraced the steps of their ancestors and uncovered the hidden history of New England and the other northern states.

Their journey through the notorious Triangle Trade--from New England to West Africa to Cuba--proved life-altering, forcing DeWolf to face the horrors of slavery directly for the first time. It also inspired him to contend with the complicated legacy that continues to affect black and white Americans, Africans, and Cubans today.

Inheriting the Trade reveals that the North's involvement in slavery was as common as the South's. Not only were black people enslaved in the North for over two hundred years, but the vast majority of all slave trading in America was done by northerners. Remarkably, half of all North American voyages involved in the slave trade originated in Rhode Island, and all the northern states benefited.

With searing candor, DeWolf tackles both the internal and external challenges of his journey--writing frankly about feelings of shame, white male privilege, the complicity of churches, America's historic amnesia regarding slavery--and our nation's desperate need for healing. An urgent call for meaningful and honest dialogue, Inheriting the Trade illuminates a path toward a more hopeful future and provides a persuasive argument that the legacy of slavery isn't merely a southern issue but an enduring American one.

Exploring the links between a grand Rhode Island mansion and dungeons in Ghana, Tom DeWolf traces the infernal trade that gave his family, and this country, great wealth and power. His journey into the past forces painful questions to the surface, and illuminates our present. --Henry Wiencek, Winner of the National Book Critics' Circle Award and author of An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America

Thomas DeWolf's personal journey into his family's long hidden slave trading past is a compelling invitation to explore how our country and many institutions, including churches, benefited from this dark chapter. Such exploration is essential if we are to move forward to a place of repair and racial reconciliation. --Frank T. Griswold, 25th Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church

Tom DeWolf's deeply personal story, of his own journey as well as his family's, is required reading for anyone interested in reconciliation. Healing from our historic wounds, that continue to separate us, requires us to walk this road together. --Myrlie Evers-Williams, civil rights leader, chairman emeritus of the NAACP (1995-98), and author of The Autobiography of Medgar Evers, Watch Me Fly, and For Us the Living

Inheriting the Trade is like a slow-motion mash-up, a first-person view from within one of the country's founding families as it splinters, then puts itself back together again. --Edward Ball, author of Slaves in the Family

Inheriting the Trade is a candid, powerful and insightful book about how one family dealt with the infamous slave trade. This book is jarring in its candor, and revealing in its honest assessment of slavery and the Dewolf family. We must read important books like this one, if we dare to appreciate every aspect of our history, annd as the Dewolf family does, dare to change our judgments about the wretched history of slavery. --Professor Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., Executive Director, The Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School

Thomas Norman DeWolf was born in California and educated at the University of Oregon. He served as city councilor, county commissioner, and for nine years on the Oregon Arts Commission. His years of public service focused on literacy, children's issues, and restorative justice. A member of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association, he lives with his wife in Oregon.