BIBLIOGRAPHY AND MEDIA RESOURCES

A list, compiled by the artist along with Mid-America Arts Alliance, of books, DVDs, CDs and online connections used in research for the series, in addition to other recommended reading on the Underground Railroad.

READING FOR ADULTS

Allen, William Francis, Charles Pickard Ware, and Lucy McKim Garrison, eds. Slave Songs of the United States. New York: A. Simpson & Co., 1867.

Beck, Isaac. interview with Wilbur H. Siebert, December 26, 1892. Wilbur H. Siebert Collection, Ohio Historical Society, Columbus.

Bentley Historical Library. Ann Arbor, Michigan, Lorenzo Davis papers, 1822–1899.

Benjamin, Drew. A North-Side View of Slavery. The Refugee: Or the Narratives of Fugitive Slaves in Canada Related by Themselves, with an Account of the History and Condition of the Colored Population of Upper Canada. Wilmington, MA: Mariner Books, 2009.

Blight, David W. A Slave No More: Two Men Who Escaped to Freedom: Including Their Own Narratives of Emancipation. Boston: Mariner Books, 2007.

_____. Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom. Simon & Schuster, 2018.

_____. From Passages to Freedom: The Underground Railroad in History and Memory. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books in association with the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, 2004.

Bordewich, Fergus M. Bound for Canaan: The Epic Story of the Underground Railroad, America’s First Civil Rights Movement. New York: Amistad, 2006.

Bradford, Sarah. Harriet, the Moses of Her People. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2012.

Bresler, Joel. “Follow the Drinking Gourd: A Cultural History.”

Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library.

Calarco, Tom. Places of the Underground Railroad: A Geographical Guide. Santa Barbara: Greenwood, 2011.

Chestnut, Mary. A Diary from Dixie: The Civil War's Most Celebrated Journal, Written During the Conflict by the Wife of Confederate General James Chestnut, Jr. Portland House, 1997.

Child, Lydia Maria. Isaac T. Hopper: A True Life. Boston: John P. Jewett & Co., 1853.

Clifford Larson, Kate. Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero. New York: Random House, 2003.

Coffin, Levi. Reminiscences of Levi Coffin. Edited by Ben Richmond. Philadelphia: Friends United Press, 2001.

Cole, Andrea. “Underground Railroad: Researchers Uncover County’s Role in Slaves’ Journey to Freedom.” Palladium-Item, Richmond, Indiana.

Cone, James H. The Spirituals and the Blues: An Interpretation. New York: Seabury Press, 1971.

Coon, Diane Perrine. “Kentucky-Indiana Underground Railroad Crossings at Carroll and Trimble Counties.” The Madison Connection, Jefferson County Historical Society Research Library.

_____. “Reconstructing the Underground Railroad Crossings at Madison, Indiana.” Master’s thesis, University of Louisville, 1998. Jefferson County Historical Society Research Library.

Coopey, Judith Redline. Redfield Farm: A Novel of the Underground Railroad. Indi Publishing Group, 2010. FICTION

Craft, William. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, The Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery. London: Aeterna Publishing, 2010.

Darden, Robert F. People Get Ready!: A New History of Black Gospel Music. New York: Bloomsbury, 2013.

_____. Nothing But Love in God’s Water, Volume I: Black Sacred Music from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2014.

Dobie, J. Frank, ed. Follow de Drinkin’ Gou’d. Austin: Texas Folk-Lore Society, 1928.

Douglass, Frederick. “American Slavery, American Religion, and the Free Church of Scotland: An Address Delivered in London, England, on May 22, 1846.” In The Frederick Douglass Papers: Series One–Speeches, Debates, and Interviews. Edited by John Blassingame et al. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1979.

_____. Autobiographies. New York: The Library of America, 1994.

_____. The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2003. First published 1892 by De Wolfe & Fiske.

_____. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. New York: Dover Publications, 1995. First published as Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Boston: Anti-Slavery Office, 1845.

Douglass, Frederick, and David W. Blight. My Bondage and My Freedom. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014.

Drew, Benjamin. The Refugee: Narratives of Fugitive Slaves in Canada. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2008.

Epstein, Dena J. Sinful Tunes and Spirituals: Black Folk Music to the Civil War. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1977.

Federal Writers’ Project. Alabama Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in Tennessee from Interviews with Former Slaves. Bedford, MA: Applewood Books; Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2006.

_____. Arkansas Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in Tennessee from Interviews with Former Slaves. Bedford, MA: Applewood Books; Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2006.

_____. Florida Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in Tennessee from Interviews with Former Slaves. Bedford, MA: Applewood Books; Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2006.

_____. Georgia Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in Tennessee from Interviews with Former Slaves. Bedford, MA: Applewood Books; Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2006.

_____. Indiana Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in Tennessee from Interviews with Former Slaves. Bedford, MA: Applewood Books; Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2006.

_____. Kentucky Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in Tennessee from Interviews with Former Slaves. Bedford, MA: Applewood Books; Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2006.

_____. Maryland Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in Tennessee from Interviews with Former Slaves. Bedford, MA: Applewood Books; Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2006.

_____. Mississippi Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in Tennessee from Interviews with Former Slaves. Bedford, MA: Applewood Books; Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2006.

_____. Missouri Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in Tennessee from Interviews with Former Slaves. Bedford, MA: Applewood Books; Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2006.

_____. North Carolina Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in Tennessee from Interviews with Former Slaves. Bedford, MA: Applewood Books; Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2006.

_____. Ohio Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in Tennessee from Interviews with Former Slaves. Bedford, MA: Applewood Books; Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2006.

_____. Oklahoma Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in Tennessee from Interviews with Former Slaves. Bedford, MA: Applewood Books; Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2006.

_____. South Carolina Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in Tennessee from Interviews with Former Slaves. Bedford, MA: Applewood Books; Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2006.

_____. Tennessee Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in Tennessee from Interviews with Former Slaves. Bedford, MA: Applewood Books; Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2006.

_____. Virginia Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in Tennessee from Interviews with Former Slaves. Bedford, MA: Applewood Books; Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2006.

Feeder, Luther M. “Our History Scrapbook: Lacey Among Five Slavery Foes in Fountain City Picture 1922.” The Palladium-Item and Sun-Telegram, Richmond, Indiana, February 6, 1962.

Franklin, John Hope, and Alfred A. Moss Jr. From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans. New York: Knopf, 1967.

Franklin, John Hope, and Loren Schweninger. Runaway Slaves: Rebels on the Plantation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Free Labor Advocate and Anti-Slavery Chronicle, New Garden, Indiana, 1841–1847.

Funk, Arville L. “Railroad to Freedom.” Outdoor Indiana (November 1964): 5–9.

Gara, Larry. The Liberty Line: The Legend of the Underground Railroad. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1961.

Genovese, Eugene D. Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made. New York: Pantheon Books, 1974.

Gilbert, Olive, and Sojourner Truth. Narrative of Sojourner Truth. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1997.

Greensburg Daily News, Greensburg, Indiana, 1894.

Hamilton, Virginia. The House of Dies Drear. New York: Aladdin, 2006. FICTION

Henry County (Indiana) Female Anti-Slavery Society records, Rare Books and Manuscripts Department, Indiana State Library.

Hewitt, Nancy A. Women’s Activism and Social Change: Rochester, New York 1822–1872. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1984.

Higginson, Col. Thomas W. Army Life in a Black Regiment. 2nd ed. Edited by Eileen Southern. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1883.

Horton, Lois E. Harriet Tubman and the Fight for Freedom: A Brief History with Documents. St. Martin’s, 2013.

Hudson, J. Blaine. Encyclopedia of the Underground Railroad. McFarland & Company, 2006.

Jeffrey, Julie Roy. The Great Silent Army of Abolitionism: Ordinary Women in the Antislavery Movement. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998.

Johnson, James Weldon, ed., and J. Rosamund Johnson, musical arranger. The Book of American Negro Spirituals. New York: Viking Press, 1925.

Kidd, Sue Monk. The Invention of Wings. Penguin Books, 2014. FICTION

Larson, Kate Clifford. Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman: Portrait of an American Hero. Ballantine, 2004.

Liberator, Boston, Massachusetts, 1831–1865.

Library of Congress. The Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress. Washington, DC: Manuscripts Division, Library of Congress, 2001.

Lovell, John, Jr. Black Song: The Forge and the Flame. The Story of How the Afro American Spiritual Was Hammered Out. New York: Paragon House Publishers, 1972.

Marsh, J. B. T. The Story of the Jubilee Singers: With Their Songs. New York: AMS Press, 1971.

Mihacka, Fauna. Anti-Slavery History of Jefferson County, paper, 1998. Jefferson County Historical Society Research Library.

Michna-Bales, Jeanine. Through Darkness to Light: Photographs Along the Underground Railroad. Princeton Architectural Press, 2017.

Mull, Carol E. The Underground Railroad in Michigan. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., Publishers, 2010.

National Park Service, US Department of the Interior. The Underground Railroad in American History. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 2014.*

Oates, Stephen B. The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion. A Mentor Book, Signet Publishers, 1976.

Ohio History Connection. “Tice Davids.”

Parker, John P. His Promised Land: The Autobiography of John P. Parker, Former Slave and Conductor on the Underground Railroad. Edited by Stuart Seely Sprague. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1996.

Pettit, Eber M. Sketches in the History of the Underground Railroad. 1879. Reprint, Westfield, NY: Chautauqua Region Press, 1999.

Pennsylvania Gazette, May 23, 1787.

Rae, Noel. The Great Stain: Witnessing American Slavery. The Overlook Press, 2018.

Reuben, Sidney, Eliza, and others vs. Joel Parrish, executor. Middle Tennessee Supreme Court Records, 1846, Box MT78, Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Schectman, Jonathan. Bound for the Future: Child Heroes of the Underground Railroad. Praeger Publishing, 2012.

Siebert, Wilbur H. The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom. 1898. Reprint, New York: Arno Press, 1968.

Smith, Jay P. “Many Michigan Cities on Underground Railroad in Days of Civil War.” Detroit News, April 14, 1918.

Still, William. The Underground Railroad. Chicago: Johnson Publishing Company, 1970.

Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom's Cabin. Dover Publications, 2005. FICTION

Tibbets, John H. Reminiscences of Slavery Times. Unpublished chronicle, 1888. Collection of Eleutherian College, Inc., Lancaster, Indiana.

Union Literary Institute Minutes Book, 1845–1890. Indiana Historical Society, BV1972.

Walters, Kerry. The Underground Railroad: A Reference Guide. ABC-CLIO, 2012.

Whitehead, Colson. The Underground Railroad. New York: Random House, 2016. FICTION

Work, John W. American Negro Songs and Spirituals. New York: Bonanza Books, 1940.

 

READING FOR YOUNGER READERS

Connelly, Bernadine. Follow the Drinking Gourd: A Story of the Underground Railroad. Bridgeport, CT: Rabbit Ears Entertainment, 2013.

Cummings, Judy Dodge. The Underground Railroad: Navigate the Journal from Slavery to Freedom (Build it Yourself). Jackson, TN: Nomad Press, 2017.

Hamilton, Virginia. Many Thousand Gone: African Americans from Slavery to Freedom. New York: Knopf Books, 1995.

Lester, Julius. To Be a Slave. New York: Puffin Books, 2000.

Levine, Ellen. Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad. New York: Scholastic Press, 2007.

Stein, Conrad. The Underground Railroad. New York: Children’s Press, 1997.

Weatherford, Carole Boston. Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. New York: Disney Jump at the Sun, 2006.

Williams, Carla. The Underground Railroad: Journey to Freedom. Chanhassen, MN: The Child’s World, 2001.

 

DVDs

A Woman Called Moses, 1978. DVD. Directed by Paul Wendkos. Hawthorne, CA: Xenon Pictures, 2001.

The Abolitionists. Directed by Rob Rapley. Arlington, VA: PBS, 2013.

Africans in America: America’s Journey Through Slavery, 1998. DVD. Directed by Noland Walker, Jacquie Jones, and Susan Bell. Boston, MA: WGH, 2000.

American Experience: The Abolitionists. DVD. Arlington, VA: PBS, 2013.

Get the Story Behind the Story: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Courage: Men and Women of the Underground Railroad in the Indiana and Kentucky Borderland. New Albany, IN: Carnegie Center for Art and History, 2012.

Race to Freedom: The Underground Railroad. DVD. Directed by Don McBrearty. La Crosse, WI: Echo Bridge Home Entertainment, 2013.

Slavery By Another Name. DVD. Directed by Sam Pollard. Arkington, VA: PBS, 2012.

Steal Away: Music of the Underground Railroad. Directed by Benjamin Kuchera. Lexington: Kentucky Educational Television, 2005.

The Underground Railroad. DVD. Directed by Jeff Lengyel; 1999. A & E Home Video, 2002.

Underground Railroad: The William Still Story. Directed by Lane Drewery. Arlington, VA: PBS, 2012.

Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives. Directed by Ed Bell and Thomas Lennon; 2013. HBO Video, 2004.

 

CDs

Freedom is Coming: Songs of Freedom, Resistance, and the Underground Railroad. New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, 2011.

Get on Board! Underground Railroad & Civil Rights Freedom Songs, Vol. 2. Kim and Reggie Harris. West Chester: Appleseed Recordings, 2007.

Songs of the American Negro Slaves. Sung by Michel Larue. Washington DC: Smithsonian Folkways Archival, 2007.

Steal Away: Songs of the Underground Railroad. Kim and Reggie Harris. West Chester: Appleseed Recordings, 2008.

 

ONLINE CONNECTIONS

DEBUNKING MYTHS ABOUT THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Followthedrinkinggourd.org This website presents researched information about interpretation of the lyrics to the song “Follow the Drinking Gourd” and examines what is likely fact and what is likely a folktale.

The Underground Railroad: Escape from Slavery Student Activity | Scholastic.com This Scholastic website features helpful information for teachers, and activities and primary source resources online for students. A page devoted to debunking myths about the Underground Railroad is also included.

The Many Myths of Slaves and the Underground Railroad The American Heroes Channel produced a short video that debunks folklore and myth surrounding the history of the Underground Railroad.

Journey to Freedom: Commemorating Black History Month from NBC4 Washington – February 2016 features Through Darkness to Light: Photographs Along the Underground Railroad at the 11:50 time mark.

 

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD HISTORY AND HISTORIC SITES

Network to Freedom Database The National Park Service has a Network to Freedom website that contains lesson plans, a junior ranger booklet, an interactive map, and more.

Teaching the Underground Railroad The Northern Kentucky University has a website with photographs of Underground Railroad sites and lesson plans.

List of Sites for the Underground Railroad Travel Itinerary The National Park Service has an online listing of Underground Railroad sites listed by state with clickable links to descriptions of each site.

Underground Railroad - Black History This page on the History Channel features a video and general information about Harriet Tubman.

PBS | Locations on the Underground Railroad PBS presents a website about the film The William Still Story that contains a listing of locations of various historic sites and other cultural institutions that relate the story of the Underground Railroad.

Pathways to Freedom: Maryland and the Underground Railroad Maryland Public Television has a website that features classroom resources, history, and answers to general questions about the Underground Railroad.

American Artifacts Preview: Underground Railroad & Slavery Experience Historian Anthony Cohen, the founder of the Menare Foundation Inc. (dedicated to preserving and interpreting Underground Railroad History), is featured on this short video. He describes retracing one of the routes of the Underground Railroad by personally walking it on foot.

Kelton House The Historic Kelton House Museum in Columbus, Ohio was built by Fernando Cortez Kelton. He and his wife, Sophia, were active supporters of the abolitionist movement. The house is a Cornerstone Landmark of the Town Street Historic District and is recognized as an Underground Railroad site.

The Sheldon Peck Homestead | Lombard Historical Society Portrait artist Sheldon Peck used his homestead in Babcock's Grove (now Lombard, Illinois) to help Underground Railroad travelers. He was a radical abolitionist, urging the full and immediate termination of slavery, as were many of the area townspeople. In August 2011, the Sheldon Peck Homestead was inducted into the Network to Freedom – a list of verified Underground Railroad locations. Historical Society staff and volunteers worked over several years researching the Underground Railroad, genealogy and property lines near the Homestead, and Sheldon Peck’s art.

 

FUGITIVE SLAVE ACTS

Fugitive Slave Acts - Black History - HISTORY.com The History Channel features webpages that describe the federal laws that allowed the capture and return of freedom seekers within the territory of the United States.

 

SECRET CODES AND MESSAGES

Jim Thomas Presents the Secret Messages Found in U.S. Slave Songs Chatham Manor, a mansion that is part of a National Park Service site in Fredericksburg, VA, has recorded an excellent presentation by Jim Thomas, who has spent much of his life researching the codes and secret messages of spirituals in context.

Digital Story: Secrets and Codes of the Underground Railroad This video produced by Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, North Carolina, gives a six-minute introduction of the Underground Railroad and stories/legends about communication tools (although scholars dispute the use of quilts as communicating messages).

 

MUSEUMS

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center This museum is located in Cincinnati, Ohio, and features information about heroes of the Underground Railroad, history, and other resources.

 

INFLUENTIAL PARTICIPANTS OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Abolitionist Movement | HISTORY.com The History Channel website has general information about the abolitionist movement.

"I Will Be Heard" Abolitionism in America Cornell University Library has resources online about the origins of abolitionism, slave narratives, and excerpts from prominent abolitionists and their strategies.

Abolition - The African-American Mosaic Exhibition The Library of Congress has a wealth of materials online related to the abolitionist movement, including anti-slavery publications, minutes from an early anti-slavery meeting, advertisements, and more.

William Still: An African-American Abolitionist Temple University in Philadelphia has the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection, which houses William Still papers dating from 1865 to 1899. Links to additional resources and information about William Still can be found on this site.

Underground Railroad: The William Still Story This site features PBS video excerpts from The Underground Railroad: The William Still Story, a film produced by PBS in 2012.

Frederick Douglass | HISTORY.com The History Channel has an online video and informaton about the life and work of Frederick Douglass.

Frederick Douglass, PBS People and Events As part of online resources about slavery in America, PBS has a brief biography of Frederick Douglass and links to other related topics.

Frederick Douglass National Historic Site The National Park Service has online biographical information about Frederick Douglass’ life and work.

Frederick Douglass | Documenting the American South The University of North Carolina has a Documenting the American South website that features information about Frederick Douglass.

The Frederick Douglass Papers at The Library of Congress The Library of Congress has an online Frederick Douglass collection of papers (approximately 7,400 items) notes, parts of his handwritten autobiography, photographs, and more.

Harriet Tubman, PBS People and Events This PBS website features general information about the Underground Railroad, links to historic documents about the slave trade and slavery, and pages about Harriet Tubman among other topics and significant individuals from the time period.

Underground Railroad featuring Harriet Tubman - HISTORY.com This page on the History Channel features a video and general information about Harriet Tubman.

Harriet Tubman | National women's History Museum This succinct biography is produced by the National Women’s History Museum and features links to other web resources and a short bibliography.

Harriet Tubman - Library of Congress The Library of Congress provides a brief timeline of Harriet Tubman and links to topics related to her life.

Harriet Tubman Biography This Harriet Tubman website is produced by the author of Bound for the Promised Land, Kate Clifford Larson, a scholar who has extensively researched Harriet Tubman’s life. The site features a biography, myths and facts, and links to other resources.

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park The State of Maryland has a Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Park, featuring a scenic byway and visitor center that commemorates the life of Harriet Tubman.

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park Booklet This PDF document produced by the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Park features Harriet Tubman myths and facts.

Harriet Tubman - Online Resources - Library of Congress The Library of Congress features an array of online resources about Harriet Tubman—links to historic documents and photographs.

Harriet Tubman | Facts and Quotes | PBS This PBS page contains fun facts about Harriet Tubman.

 

SLAVE NARRATIVES

Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 - Library of Congress The Library of Congress has more than 2, 300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of formerly enslaved persons. These materials were collected in the 1930s as part of the Works Progress Administration.

North American Slave Narratives The University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill has created a website about documenting the American South that features North American slave narratives in book or article form.

 

THE 13TH AMENDMENT

13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution This is a Library of Congress website guide that contains links to more information, documents, and support materials about the history of the 13th amendment to the United States Constitution, which was adopted in 1865 and made slavery illegal.