For this update, the editors of the Oxford African American Studies Center have added 25 new primary documents with accompanying commentary highlighting the Underground Railroad.
These fascinating documents include narratives by and interviews with escaped slaves, correspondences between station agents, and editorials by abolitionists. Among other exciting additions is an account of Harriet Tubman’s efforts to rescue her family, found in a letter by abolitionist Thomas Garrett. A new dispatch from Editor in Chief Henry Louis Gates, Jr., also describes the elaborate and sophisticated systems of communications, such as the coded songs, used to help guide slaves along this path to freedom. These materials, as well as a Focus On feature examining the reality of the Underground Railroad, offer a unique window into the day-to-day operations and historical significance of this remarkable system.
Click here to read the current Focus On feature.
100 EXCLUSIVE, ONLINE-ONLY BIOGRAPHIES This month's update also includes 100 new online-only biographies from the African American National Biography project. Among the new biographies are soldiers who fought in the 18th and 19th centuries such as William Henry Barnes, a Medal of Honor recipient for his bravery in the Civil War. Other notable additions include prominent mayors Adrian Fenty (Washington, D.C.) and Cory Booker (Newark, NJ), recent Baseball Hall of Fame inauguree Andre Dawson, well-known actors Phylicia Ayers-Allen Rashad and Jeffrey Wright, musicians George Benson and Anita Baker, and hip-hop pioneer Rakim.