Nonfiction Book Club

Join fellow readers at the library for an engaging discussion of Master Slave Husband Wife by Ilyon Woo on Thursday May 9th at 1:30 p.m.

In 1848, a year of international democratic revolt, a young, enslaved couple, Ellen and William Craft, achieved one of the boldest feats of self-emancipation in American history. Posing as master and slave, they made their escape together across more than 1,000 miles, riding out in the open on steamboats, carriages, and trains that took them from bondage in Georgia to the free states of the North. Along the way, they dodged slave traders, military officers, and even friends of their enslavers, who might have revealed their true identities. The tale of their adventure soon made them celebrities, and generated headlines around the country. Americans could not get enough of this charismatic young couple, who traveled another 1,000 miles crisscrossing New England, drawing thunderous applause as they spoke alongside some of the greatest abolitionist luminaries of the day. But even then, they were not out of danger. With the passage of an infamous new Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, all Americans became accountable for returning refugees like the Crafts to slavery. Then yet another adventure began, as slave hunters came up from Georgia, forcing the Crafts to flee once again.

Ilyon Woo will be the featured speaker at the FOL's 55th Annual Book and Author Luncheon on Friday, May 10, 2024, at the Garden City Hotel, 11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. 

Click HERE for more information and to reserve your tickets!

Copies of the book are available on Libby and may also be picked up at the Information Desk.