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TALKIN' ABOUT BESSIE
Elizabeth "Bessie" Coleman (1892-1926), grew up in the segregated South, overcame the obstacles of poverty, racism and gender discrimination to become the first African-American female pilot. This book is told as a series of imagined and interesting monologues with rich watercolor illustrations by E. B. Lewis. [Learn more about Bessie Coleman]
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GIRL WONDER: A BASEBALL STORY IN NINE INNINGS
Dr. Alta Weiss was born and is buried in Berlin, Ohio. She grew up, played baseball on an all-male team, practiced medicine and retired in Ohio. She put herself through medical school (the only female in her class to graduate with a medical degree) with money she earned playing ball. Exception, eccentric, played ball in a skirt…and one of Ohio's Heroes. [Learn More: Baseball Historians Women in Baseball] |
TAKING LIBERTY: The Story of Oney Judge, George Washington's Runaway Slave
Ages 12 Up When I was four and my daddy left, I cried, but I understood. He became part of the Gone. The only life Oney Judge has ever known is servitude. As part of the staff of George and Martha Washington, she isn't referred to as a slave. She is a servant -- and a house servant at that, a position of influence and respect on the plantation of Mount Vernon. When she rises to the position of personal servant to Martha Washington, her status among the household staff -- black and white -- is second to none. She is Lady Washington's closest confidante and, for all intents and purposes, a member of the family -- or so she thinks. Slowly, Oney's perception of her life with the Washingtons begins to crack as she realizes the truth: No matter how close she becomes with Lady Washington, no matter what secrets they share, she will never be a member of the family. And regardless of what they call it, it's still slavery and she's still a slave. Oney must make a choice: Does she stay where she is, comfortable, with this family that has loved her and nourished her and owned her since the day she was born? Or does she take liberty -- her life -- into her own hands and, like her father, become one of the Gone? Told with immense power and compassion, Taking Liberty is the extraordinary true story of one young woman's struggle to take what is rightfully hers.
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THE DARING ESCAPE OF ELLEN CRAFT
On December 21, 1848, Ellen Craft slipped out into the cold, dark night and took her first steps toward freedom. Ellen and her husband, William, had a daring plan to escape from slavery. Posing as a white man, Ellen hoped to travel north as William's slave master. If anyone discovered her, she'd be severely punished. But Ellen was willing to risk everything-even death-to be free.
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FREDICK DOUGLASS: FOR THE GREAT FAMILY OF MAN
Here in a swift and compelling narrative, Peter Burchard tells the story of the greatest black American of the nineteenth century, a pioneer who laid down a firm foundation for all men and women who came after him. As a child and as a youth, Frederick Douglass was a slave, but his intelligence, his resilient character, and his innate charm, together with a measure of good fortune, made it possible for him to rise above a state of servitude. He became a forceful speaker and persuasive writer and conducted a campaign to abolish slavery and secure civil rights for his people and for all Americans. He saw himself as a soldier in a battle for the dignity of the "great family of man." This new biography presents Douglass as he lived through the misery, tragedy, and heart break of his early years, as he escaped from slavery only to endure anxiety and outrage in the free states of the North. He eventually made his way to Great Britain, where he lectured forcefully against slavery. In the United States, as the Civil War began, Douglass recruited young black men to fight and die for their freedom and the freedom of their brothers held in bondage in the South. He became a friend and counselor to presidents, senators, and governors. Here is a full-length portrait of this strong and passionate American.
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