Although the term
Underground Railroad
implies a
progression of
well-ordered routes
leading north, it
was actually a broad
movement, with
people of varied
ethnic and religious
affiliation involved
in spontaneous and
organized activities
to assist enslaved
African Americans in
their efforts to
achieve freedom.
Actual routes, which
led to Canada, Mexico
and the Caribbean,
are difficult to
trace due to the
secrecy associated
with this illegal
activity.
- Guy Washington
National Park Service
Network to Freedom

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD RECOMMENDED READING
There are a number of books and articles that reveal the true history and stories of the Underground Railroad. Here are a few that we recommend.

• Bound for Cannaan, The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America by Fergus M. Bordewich
• Beyond the River, The Untold Story of the Heroes of the Underground Railroad by Ann Hagedorn
• Underground Railroad Official National Park Handbook includes essays by Larry Gara, Brenda Stevenson and C. Peter Ripley. You may purchase by mail from the Superintendent of Documents, US Govt. Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402-9325
• Bound For The Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait Of An American Hero By Kate Clifford Larson, see also www.harriettubmanbiography.com
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Juvenile Reading List from the NPS

For additional reading lists:

• Friends of Freedom Society - The Ohio Underground Railroad

• Ottawa Citizen’s Tracks to Freedom,Canada and the Underground Railroad posts a reading list and African American Spirituals sung by Norma Blacke Bourdeau

• Motherland Connextions, Inc. - a tour company in Niagara, NY that's done their research!

On-line Reading:

• Exploring a Common Past, Researching and Interpreting the UGRR by the National Park Service

• Oberlin Archives a bounty of resources on Oberlin’s history
• For the writings of Theodore Weld
• Actual writing by slave and slave holders – reprints of American Slavery As It Is: Testimony of A Thousand Witnesses  
• Martin Delaney‘s story
• Library of Congress - read slave narratives

Juvenile reading list on Slavery and Underground Railroad:

To search for a particular book in a library near you, use the WorldCat search engine at www.worldcat.org.

“The Antislavery Movement”. Cobblestone, Cobblestone Publishing Company, Vol. 14, No. 2, February 1993.

Beatty, Patricia.  Who Comes with Cannons?  New York: Morrow Junior Books, 1992.

Bentley, Judith.  Dear Friend: Thomas Garrett and William Still, Collaborators on the
Underground Railroad. New York: Cobblehill Books, 1997.

Bial, Raymond.  The Strength of these Arms: Life in the Slave Quarters. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.

Brill, Marlene Targ.  Allen Jay and the Underground Railroad. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, 1993.

Carbone, Elisa.  Stealing Freedom.  New York: Yearling Books, 1998.

Clark, Margaret Goff.  Freedom Crossing. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1980.

Cox, Clinton.  Fiery Vision: The Life and Death of John Brown. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1997.

Diouf, Sylviane A.  Growing Up in Slavery. Brookfield, Connecticut: The Millbrook Press, 2001.

Ducey, Jean..  Out of this Nettle. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1983.

Fradin, Dennis Brindell.  My Family Shall be Free! The Life of Peter Still. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2001.

Hamilton, Virginia.  Anthony Burns: The Defeat and Triumph of a Fugitive Slave.  New York: Dell Laurel-Leaf, 1988

Haskins, James.  Get on Board: The Story of the Underground Railroad.  New York: Scholastic Inc., 1993.

Jacobs, Harriet A.  Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1987.

Kahman, Bobbie.  A Slave Family. New York: Crabtree Publishing, 2002.

Lasky, Kathryn.  True North: A Novel of the Underground Railroad. New York: Blue Sky Press, 1996.

Latham, Frank.  The Dred Scott Decision, March 6, 1857: Slavery and the Supreme Courts”Self Inflicted Wound”. New York: Franklin Watts, Inc., 1968.

Lawrence, Jacob.  Harriet and the Promised Land.  New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 1997.

Levine, Ellen.  If You Traveled on the Underground Railroad. Scholastic Press, 1988.

Ludwig, Charles.  Levi Coffin and the Underground Railroad. Scottdale, Pennsylvania: Herald Press, 1975.

McGovern, Ann.  Runaway Slave: The Story of Harriet Tubman. New York: Scholastic Book Services, 1965.

McKissack, Patricia C. and Frederick L. McKissack.  Black Hands, White Sails: The Story of African-American Whalers. New York: Scholastic Press, 1999.

 McKissack, Patricia C. and Frederick L. McKissack.  Rebels Against Slavery: American Slave Revolts. New York: Scholastic Press, 1996.

Meyer, Linda D.  Harriet Tubman: They Called Me Moses. Parenting Press, 1988.

Myers, Walter Dean.  Amistad: A Long Road to Freedom.  New York: Penguin Putnam Books for Young People, 1997.

Miller, William. Frederick Douglass: The Last Days of Slavery. Lee and Low Books, 1995.

Monjo, F.N.  The Drinking Gourd.. Harper Collins, 1993.

Moore, Kay. If You Lived at the Time of the Civil War. New York: Scholastic Press, 1994.

Rappaport, Doreen.  Freedom River. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 2000.

Riggio, Anita. Secret Signs Along the Underground Railraod.  Boyds Mills Press, 1997.

Sanders, Scott R.  A Place Called Freedom. New York: Athenaeum Books for Young Readers, 1997.

Schroeder, Alan and Jerry Pinkney. Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1996.

Stein, R. Conrad.  The Story of the Underground Railroad. Chicago: Children’s Press, 1981.

Stanley, Jerry.  Hurry Freedom: African Americans in Gold Rush California.  New York: Crown Publications,  2000.

Sterling, Dorothy.  Freedom Train: The Story of Harriet Tubman. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 1954.

“Tracking the Underground Railroad”.  Dig, Cobblestone Publishing Company. Vol. 5, No. 1, January/February 2003.

“The Underground Railroad and the Antislavery Movement”. Cobblestone, Cobblestone Publishing Company, Vol. 24, No. 2, February 2003.

“Underground Railroad”.  Footsteps :African American History, Cobblestone Publishing Company, Vol. 5, No.1, January/February 2003.

White, Anne Terry. North to Liberty: the Story of the Underground Railroad. Champaign, Illinois: Garrard Publishing Company, 1972.

Wyeth, Sharon Dennis.  Freedom’s Wings:Corey’s Diary, Book One. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2001.

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