ABOLITIONISTS, UNDERGROUND RAILWAY CONDUCTORS,
CIVIL RIGHTS AND OTHER INFLUENTIAL AFRICAN AMERICAN LEADERS
AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY
Click on images framed in blue to enlarge them.
Also see the
Voices of Freedom: Abolitionist Heroes
Series of Biographies for ages 10-13
 Civil Rights
- Events. The eight sturdy, authentic photos have ideas for cooperative projects
and research on the back. For junior high age and above. Photos include Civil
Rights Act of 1964; Freedom Riders; Voting Rights; School Integration; Lunch
Counter Sit-Ins; The Watts Riots; From Selma to Montgomery; The March on
Washington. BTH-3009. $7.19-D
 Civil Rights -
Profiles. The eight sturdy, authentic photos have ideas for cooperative
projects and research on the back. For junior high age and above. Photos include
Thurgood Marshall; Fannie Lou Hamer; Slain Civil Rights Workers; Jackie
Robinson; Rosa Parks; James Meredith; Fames Farmer; Martin Luther King, Jr.
BTH-3010. $7.19-D
Aunt Clara Brown: Official Pioneer by Linda Lowery. An "On My Own
Biography" published by Lerner Publications, 1999. Clara Brown was a former
slave who headed to Colorado in 1859 to start a new life. She was also hoping to
find her daughter, who had been sold as a little girl. She worked hard and
eventually grew rich. After the Civil War, she used her money to help other
slaves who were now free. They became like a family to her, which is why she was
called "Aunt Clara," but she never was able to find her daughter. 48 pages. For
ages 6-8. BTH-5412. $6.26-D
Escape From Slavery: The Boyhood of Frederick Douglass in His Own Words,
ediited and illustrated by Michael McCurdy. Foreword by Coretta Scott King.
Random House / Knopf, 1994. A shortened autobiography of the slave who became an
abolitionist, journalist, and statesman. This portrays his early years. For
later elementary grades. 64 pages. BTH-5409. $6.29-D
Go Free or Die: A
Story About Harriet Tubman by Jeri Ferris, illustrated by Karen Ritz.
Lerner, 1988. This is a very readable biography of the woman whose cruel
experiences as a slave in the South led her to seek freedom not only for
herself, but through others through the Underground Railroad. 63 pages. For ages
9-13. Illustrated in black and white. BTH-2915. $5.36-D
A
Hunger for Learning; A Story About Booker T. Washington by Gwenyth
Swain. Lerner, 2006. Booker T. Washington had wanted to learn to read since he
was a small boy, but as a slave he wasn't allowed to go to school. After the
Civil War, when he was free, he convinced teachers at the Hampton Institute to
let him work at their school in exchange for classes. He did so well that
Hampton's principal recommended him to start a new school in Alabama. He and his
students built Tuskegee Institute, which became one of the nation's most
respected colleges for black students. He dedicated his life to education and
was considered one of the most important African American leaders of his time.
For ages 9-13. Illustrated in black and white. 64 pages. BTH-2919. $6.26-D
President of the Underground Railroad: A Story abut Levi Coffin by Gwenyth
Swain. Lerner, 2001. Illustrated by Ralph L. Ramstad. A Creative Minds
Biography. A biography of a Quaker man form North Carolina whose fearless work
on the Underground Railroad helped thousands of slaves escape. 64 pages. For
ages 9-13. BTH-5410. $6.26-D
 Rosa Parks
by Eloise Greenfield. Illustrated by Gil Ashby. HarperCollins Trophy Chapter
Book, 1995. Rosa parks is best known for not giving her seat on the bus to a
white passenger and being arrested for it. The result was the Bus Boycott in
Montgomery, which helped to launch the modern civil rights movement. This book
is written for ages 7-10, reading level 2.8. 43 pages + a note at the back from
the author. BTH-2918. $3.83-D
Voice of
Freedom: A Story about Frederick Douglass
by Maryann N. Weidt.
Illustrated by Jeni Reeves. Lerner Publishing, 2001. Douglass was born a slave
in Maryland in 1818. When he was 20, he escaped and began life as a free man. He
became a brilliant speaker who traveled widely, spreading his anti-slavery
message as he shared his story. He wrote severa books and published a newspaper
that promoted equal rights for both black people and women. He died in 1895. 64
pages. Illustrated in black and white. For ages 9-13. BTH-2920. $6.26-D
Walking the Road
to Freedom: A Story about Sojourner Truth by Jerri Ferris. Illustrated by
Peter Hanson. Lerner, 1988. Sojourner Truth was born a slave and never even knew
her birthday. As a young woman, she decided she would seek her freedom, and with
help from the Quakers she escaped. She then began to reunite her family and to
help free other slaves. She became one of the most powerful speakers for the
abolition movement. 64 pages. For ages 9-13. Illustrated in black and white.
BTH-2916 $5.36-D
Words
of Promise: Story about James Weldon Johnson by Jodie Shull. Illustrated
by Ken Stetz. Millbrook Press (Lerner), 2006. Although Johnson was talented and
already more successful as a teacher, lawyer, diplomat and writer than most
African Americans of his time could hope to be, he was increasingly disturbed by
the way other blacks in America were being treated. From 1916 until the
1930s he traveled through the country speaking out for equal opportunities for
black people. He became the first executive secretary of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Today he is best known as a
poet, statesman, and the author of the words to the song "Lift Every Voice and
Sing." I remember him as the author of an anthem our choir used to sing when I
was in high school from his book of sermons in verse, God's Trombones,
which was set to music. For ages 9-13. Illustrated in black and white. 64 pages.
BTH-2917 $6.26-D
Still under construction. Many more titles will be added.
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