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.