Text by Richard Reisem with Photographs by Frank Gillespie

This 100-page soft-covered book traces slavery in New York State from its early existence within the Dutch colony called New Netherlands, through its years as a British colony, and finally during America’s slave history up to the Civil War (1861-65).

The book contains a biography of Frederick Douglass and chapters devoted to brief but poignant stories of Rochester’s many abolitionist citizens who risked all to assist enslaved people as they journeyed to freedom in Canada. Readers will be introduced to several of Mount Hope Cemetery’s permanent residents whose participation in the local Underground Railroad story has not previously been told.

In keeping with the Friends’ mission to provide historic information to a broad audience at an affordable price, this book, a $20 value, is available to the public for just $10.