Description

Discourses on History Series, Number 1:

Anti-Slavery Days in Fall River and the Operation of the Underground Railroad

by Edward Stowe Adams

Anti-Slavery Days in Fall River and the Operation of the Underground Railroad is an expanded and fully-illustrated version of a fascinating oration written and delivered by the author in 1938.

Edward Stowe Adams (1856-1948), the son of noted Fall River Abolitionist Robert Adams (1816-1900), offers a compelling and oftentimes first-hand account of Anti-Slavery activities in Fall River, Massachusetts; the city was once an important stop for fugitive slaves seeking freedom in Canada. Among the plethora of distinguished guests who were welcomed as friends in the Adams home were Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), Harriet Tubman (1822-1913), and Sojourner Truth (c. 1797-1883).

Adams’ exploration of the anti-slavery movement in Fall River and the workings of the Underground Railroad is perceptive and informative. This fascinating read draws extensively from many unpublished works and the personal papers of several noted Fall River abolitionists. The author provides a seldom-seen look at the fight against slavery, with an insider’s perspective and sentiment.

Impelled by a deep sense of our own duty, and a strong desire to awaken you to a more thorough conviction of yours, we venture to address you on a subject of the most vital importance to your country, to yourselves, to your children. We doubt not that most of you are acquainted with the fact that there are in our country, 2,500,000 men, women, and children, who, for no crime of theirs, are held as property, are driven to hard labor, for which they receive no wages; that they are sold as marketable commodities.

—Ladies Anti-Slavery Society of Fall River, 1840

The book is illustrated with fifteen images originally selected by the author to accompany his presentation, and is enhanced with additional photographs pertinent to the text.

Also contained in this volume is supplemental material pertaining to Rev. Joshua Young (1823-1904), who assisted Fall River’s abolitionists in providing a safe route for escaped slaves; he gained national attention when he offered a prayer at the funeral service of militant abolitionist John Brown (1800-1859). Young served as pastor at the Unitarian Church in Fall River from 1868 to 1875.

Paperback, 137 pages, index; 59 black-and-white illustrations; $16.95.