In Their Own Voices: First-Hand Histories of Formerly Enslaved People [5 books]

This boxset of five titles is a forceful reminder of the tremendous impact that the slave trade of the 16th-19th centuries had on those coerced into servitude and, subsequently, their descendants. Through kidnapping, murder and trickery, families were destroyed forever as they were taken from their homelands, split up and treated as less than human. But brutal as their experiences were, there are also powerful stories of indomitable spirits, pioneers, courage and, above all, hope within these pages.

Inside the boxset, you will find the following titles:
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas by Frederick Douglas
• Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington
• The Underground Railway by William Still
• Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
• Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself by Harriet Jacobs
Together, they form a powerful lesson that we must never forget.

Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) grew up as a slave before his escape along the Underground Railroad to New York City. He became a prominent abolitionist activist and was the first African American to ever receive a nomination for the presidency.

Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) was head of the Tuskegee Institute and one of the most visible leaders of the emerging civil rights movement.

William Still (1821-1902) was a conductor on the Underground Railroad, he helped more than 800 slaves escape their masters and reach freedom in Canada.

Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897) managed to escape from servitude to New York in 1842, and a little more than a decade later she told her own story in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.

Solomon Northrup (c. 1807-unknown) was born as a free man in New York but was kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841. After his escape twelve years later, he became a prominent abolitionist. The details of his death remain a mystery.