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Tobin, Jacqueline L.; Jones, Hettie From Midnight to Dawn: The Last Tracks of the Underground Railroad
Doubleday 2007 038551431X / 9780385514316 Hard Cover Very Good + Very Good + Ex-Library
Very-good+, clean copy of this ex-libris hardback. Fewer than usual library markings. This book shows very-little wear. Inner pages are free from writing or tears. Illustrated. Tight spine, bright pages. 273 pages. Dustcover is protected by a clear, Mylar cover. Stated First Edition. Number line: 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1. From Publishers Weekly Popular and familiar as the escape-to-Canada image is, little attention has been paid to the lives of the more than 30,000 blacks some born free, others self-emancipated who found refuge there. Tobin's highly readable account traces the 19th-century communities in Canada West (today's Ontario), from the first organized black settlement led by a group from Cincinnati in 1829 to the "largest and most successful" one, established in 1849. Biographical sketches of these " 'trans-border citizens, whose lives entwined with both countries" enhance the local history. Among them are well-known fugitives who dropped out of American history as their lives continued in Canada (Anthony Burns, William Parker, Henry Bibb) and major figures whose Canadian sojourn is often buried (William Wells Brown visited; Harriet Tubman made St. Catharines her home for six years). There's an enlightening portrait of Josiah Henson (the model for Stowe's Uncle Tom) as a political activist, a fascinating look at the pioneering journalist and early feminist Mary Ann Shadd and an intriguing section on the deep "Canadian connection to Harpers Ferry," as John Brown meets with the fugitives in Chatham. Accessible and fluidly written, the book will appeal to general readers. (Jan. 16) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist In the mid-nineteenth century, the city of Detroit bore the code name Midnight on the Underground Railroad. Its sister city of Windsor, Ontario, was code-named Dawn. Tobin tells the story of the journey of slaves from Midnight to Dawn as they traveled to freedom in Canada and established settlements with churches, schools, businesses, farms, and factories to sustain themselves. Settlements by black freedmen date from as early as the Revolutionary War, when slaves joined the British in return for freedom. Tobin profiles individuals involved in the movement across the Detroit River, likened to the biblical Jordan River, from the famed Harriet Tubman to the lesser-known Mary Ann Shadd, William Parker, and Henry Bibb. She also profiles Nova Scotia, St. Catherines, and other Canadian settlements and the social forces that created them, maintained them, and, for some, later led to their demise. This is a fascinating look at the shared history of the abolitionist movement and development of freedmen settlements between the U.S and Canada. Vanessa Bush
Price:
5.78 USD
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