Fortune was a slave who lived in Waterbury, Conn., in the late 1700s. He was married and the father of 4 children. When Fortune died in 1798, his master, Dr. Porter, preserved his skeleton to further the study of anatomy. Now the skeleton is in the Mattatuck Museum where it is still being studied. There is a skeleton on display in the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, Connecticut. It has been in the town for over 200 years. Over time, the bones became...

Juan Francisco Manzano was born in 1797 into the household of wealthy slaveowners in Cuba. He spent his early years at the side of his owner's wife, entertaining her friends. His poetry was his outlet, reflecting the beauty and cruelty of his world. Written in verse.

A Brilliant Narrative in Verse, Slave Moth follows Varl, a slave girl on the Perry Plantation in Tennessee, on her path to freedom. Varl has learned to read and write and is wildly creative, wise beyond her years, and full of love: for her Mamalee (who educates runaway slaves); for her friends, especially the handsome Dob; and for the cotton fields she has explored throughout her childhood. More than anything, Varl loves words and the freedom they...

When Frank X Walker's compelling collection of personal poems was first released in 2004, it told the story of the infamous Lewis and Clark expedition from the point of view of York, who was enslaved to Clark and became the first African American man to traverse the continent. The fictionalized poems in Buffalo Dance form a narrative of York's inner journey before, during, and after the expedition--a journey from slavery to freedom, from the plantation...

"Anarcha Speaks is the reimagined story of an enslaved woman who was subject to medical experimentation at the hands of Dr. Marion Sims, a man who is credited as the father of modern gynecology"--