Synopses & Reviews
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 Jordanand 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 Stowes Uncle Toms 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 peoples determination to live equal under the law.
Synopsis
A compelling history of the Underground Railroad brings together a series of portraits of the men and women who established the escape organization for runaway slaves, as well as the people who traveled it to find new lives in Canada, following the dangerous journeys of fugitive former slaves to Detroit and on to safety at African-American settlements north of the border. 40,000 first printing.
About the Author
Jacqueline Tobin is the author of
Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad and
The Tao of Women. She is on the adjunct faculty at the University of Denver, where she teaches courses in writing and research. She has spent the last fifteen years researching and writing on African American Civil War history and uncovering untold stories. Jacqueline lives in Denver with her husband, Stewart, and her dog, Sheba. She has two grown children, Alex and Jasmine, and a son in law, Patrick.
Hettie Joness seventeen books include How I Became Hettie Jones, a memoir of the “Beat Scene”; the poetry collection Drive, which won the Poetry Society of Americas 1999 Norma Farber Award; Big Star Fallin Mama (Five Women in Black Music); and No Woman, No Cry, a memoir with Bob Marleys widow, Rita. Joness short prose and poetry have appeared in the Village Voice, the Washington Post, and elsewhere. She lives in New York City, where she teaches writing at the New School and the 92nd Street Y Poetry Center.