African American Women's History Resources at Rubenstein Library: Slave Narratives

The John Hope Franklin Research Center is a repository and outreach division for African and African American history and culture in the David M. Rubenstien Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University. The Center houses an extensive collection of archivial materials, books, and manuscripts, on African American women.

The "African American Women's History" LibGuide was co-published by Gloria Ayee, 2014-2015 Franklin Research Center Graduate Intern.

• Elizabeth, colored minister, (1766-1866). Elizabeth, a Colored Minister of The Gospel, Born in Slavery. Tract Association of Friends, no. 170. Philadelphia: Tract association of Friends,1889.

• Keckley, Elizabeth, (approximately 1818-1907). Behind the Scenes in the Lincoln White House: Memoirs of an African-American Seamstress. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, 2006.

• Bradford, Sarah (1818-?). Scenes in the life of Harriet Tubman. Auburn [N.Y.] W.J. Moses, printer, 1869.

• Burton, Thomas William (1860-1939). What Experience Has Taught Me.  Introduction by John Wesley Gazaway. Illustrated. Cincinnati: Press of Jennings and Graham, 1910. Former slave in Kentucky, physician in Ohio.

• Green, William, former slave. Written by himself. Narrative of Events in the Life of William Green (Formerly a Slave). Philadelphia, Historic Publications, 1969.

• Olive, Gilbert. Narrative of Sojourner Truth, a Northern Slave, Emancipated from Bodily Servitude by the State of New York, in 1828. With a Portrait. Boston, Printed for the author, 1850.

• Ray, Emma J. Smith (1859-1930). Twice Sold, Twice Ransomed: Autobiography of Mr. and Mrs. L. P. Ray. Introduction by C. E. McReynolds. Illustrated. Chicago: Free Methodist Publishing House, 1926. Reprinted Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1971. Former Missouri slave, evangelist, revival leader, faith healer, missionary, and WCTU activist; describes her community and religious work, especially in Seattle after 1889; affiliated with the A.M.E. and Free Methodist church.

• Smith, Amanda Berry (1837-1915). The Story of the Lord’s Dealings with Mrs. Amanda Smith, the Colored Evangelist: Containing an Account of Her Life Work of Faith, and Her Travels in America, England, Ireland, Scotland, India and Africa, as an Independent Missionary: An Autobiography. Introduction by J.M. Thoburn. Illustrated. Chicago: Meyer & Brother, 1893. Reprinted Northbrook, IL: Metro Books, 1969. [avail in first edition] Former MD slave, A.M.E. evangelist, faith healer, and missionary.

• Taylor, Susie King (b. 1848). Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33^rd United States Colored Troops Late 1^st S.C. Volunteers. Introduction by Thomas Wentworth Higginson. Illustrated. Appendix. Boston: The Author, 1902.  Reprinted New York: Arno Press, 1968. [available in early second edition (1904)] An escaped slave from GA, worked with the First SC Volunteers, and later worked as a teacher, laundress, and nurse in Boston.

• Wells [Barnett], Ida B. (1862-1931). Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells.  Edited and Introduction by Alfreda M. Duster.  Foreword by John Hope Franklin. Illustrated. Bibliography. Index. Chicago: University of Chicago P, 1970. Born a slave in Mississippi; later a noted civil rights worker, civic leader, teacher, newspaper editor, and journalist; active in the NAACP; discusses her life through 1921 and 1927.

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