Shadrach Minkins: From Fugitive Slave to Citizen

by Gary L. Collison

Book Overview

On February 15, 1851, Shadrach Minkins was serving breakfast at a coffeehouse in Boston when history caught up with him. The first runaway to be arrested in New England under the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, this illiterate Black man from Virginia found himself the catalyst of one of the most dramatic episodes of rebellion and legal wrangling before the Civil War. In a remarkable effort of historical sleuthing, Gary Collison has recovered the true...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674802993
• ISBN13: 9780674802995
• Release Date: October 1998
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.2" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Great - would make a great movie or tv special.

It's hard to imagine how much work went into the research of this book. To find the details and documentation is mind consuming. The story puts flesh and blood onto a part of history that was forgotten and lived only in bits and pieces. Truly the work of a dedicated individual.

Excellent historical overview through one slave's history

Shadrach who?? This book provides amazing insight into the experiences of an unlikely hero whose story should be taught in grade school. A terrific amount of information condensed into a readable, enjoyable package--I can not imagine how difficult it must have been for the author to gather such little-known information. I only regret that I hadn't known the book or its main character years ago.