HONORING THE STRUGGLE

Hi Everybody,

Many fine historical books are published each year that chronicle the glory of the African American experience. Traveling the Freedom Road: From Slavery & the Civil War Through Reconstruction, by Linda Barrett Osborne, is the latest installment, and it is something to behold.

Traveling the Freedom Road: From Slavery & the Civil War Through Reconstruction is a breath-taking accomplishment in visual publishing, but its advantages don’t stop there. This book is everything a historian could ask for in a history book, recreating historical documents from precious Library of Congress archives, then placing them side-by-side with the spirited interviews of former slaves who lived to talk about their lives of bondage. The book also blends period photographs and illustrations with Barrett’s own insightful prose to describe the harsh realities of early African American life.

This is a timely book that addresses a well-known subject from a unique angle, emphasizing materials written by, for and about young African Americans who yearned to walk that freedom road.

Part reference book and part biography, Traveling the Freedom Road is a “must have” for teachers, historians and lovers of African American history everywhere.

Happy reading!

Rita Lorraine