The Slave Who Went to Congress

In 1870 Benjamin Turner, who spent the first 40 years of his life as a slave, was elected to the U.S. Congress. He was the first African American from Alabama to earn that distinction. In a recreation of Turner's own words, based on speeches and other writings that Turner left behind, co-authors Marti S. Rosner and Frye Gaillard have crafted the story of a remarkable man who taught himself to read when he was young and began a lifetime quest for education and freedom. As a candidate for Congress, and then as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Turner rejected the idea of punishing his white neighbors who fought for the Confederacy―and thus for the continuation of slavery―believing they had suffered enough. At the same time, he supported the right to vote for former slaves, opposed a cotton tax that he thought was hurtful to small and especially black farmers, supported racially mixed schools, and argued that land should be set aside for former slaves so they could build a new life for themselves. In this bicentennial season for the state of Alabama, the authors celebrate the life of a man who rejected bitterness even as he pursued his own dreams. His is a story of determination and strength, the story of an American hero from the town of Selma, Alabama, who worked to make the world a better place for people of all races and backgrounds.

Frye Gaillard (Author)
FRYE GAILLARD is a former writer-in-residence in the English and history departments at the University of South Alabama. He is the author of thirty books, including With Music and Justice for All: Some Southerners and Their Passions; Cradle of Freedom: Alabama and the Movement That Changed America, winner of the Lillian Smith Book Award; The Dream Long Deferred: The Landmark Struggle for Desegregation in Charlotte, North Carolina, winner of the Gustavus Myers Award; and A Hard Rain: America in the 1960s (Georgia), an NPR best book of 2018. He lives in Mobile, Alabama.

Marti Rosner (Author)
MARTI ROSNER has been an educator for 41 years. She has worked as a classroom teacher, District Academic Coach serving Title I schools in Cobb County, Georgia, and most recently led writing workshops for teachers and students at her granddaughter’s elementary school. Through the years, she has also enjoyed leading a variety of professional development classes, serving as a Teacher Consultant for the National Writing Project, and training teachers across the country as a curriculum specialist for Sundance-Newbridge, an educational publishing company. Her two grandchildren keep her active, as they love spending time outdoors. She keeps herself active by reading, writing, and traveling. When she sits still, she enjoys her home in Marietta, Georgia.