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The Rev. J. W. Loguen, as a Slave and as a Freeman
A Narrative of Real Life
Including Previously Uncollected Letters
J. W. Loguen
Edited and with a Critical Introduction by Jennifer A. Williamson
Cloth $65.00s
| 978-0-8156-3446-1
| 2016
Paper $39.95
| 978-0-8156-1068-7
| 2016
ebook 978-0-8156-5369-1
"An excellent edition of a fascinating narrative, one that is as imaginative
(and tricky) in its approach as William Wells Brown’s work, as
philosophical as anything by Frederick Douglass or Samuel Ringgold
Ward, and as forceful as some of Martin R. Delany’s work.
Williamson makes a strong case for Loguen’s authorship of the
narrative, but even if that authorship continues to be debated, the
literary, rhetorical, and philosophical dynamics of this text will be
of interest to anyone at all interested in nineteenth-century African
American literary, cultural, and intellectual history."—John Ernest, University of Delaware
"The personal record of a major black activist and public intellectual, Loguen’s
memoir attests to black leadership on the Underground Railroad and among the increasingly
radical foes of slavery on the eve of the Civil War."—William L. Andrews, University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
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Jennifer A. Williamson is director of Gender Mainstreaming and Women’s Empowerment
at ACDI/VOCA, a global development organization. She is the author of Twentieth-Century
Sentimentalism: Narrative Appropriation in American Literature.
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Book Description »[Close »]
The Rev. Jermain Wesley Loguen was a pioneering figure in early nineteenthcentury
abolitionism and African American literature. A highly respected leader
in the AME Zion Church, Rev. Loguen was popularly known as the "Underground
Railroad King" in Syracuse, where he helped over 1,500 fugitives escape
from slavery. With a charismatic and often controversial style, Loguen
lectured alongside Frederick Douglass and worked closely with well-known
abolitionists such as Harriet Tubman, William Wells Brown, and William Lloyd
Garrison, among others.
Originally published in 1859, The Rev. J. W. Loguen chronicles the remarkable
life of a tireless young man and a passionate activist. The narrative
recounts Loguen’s early life in slavery, his escape to the North, and his successful
career as a minister and abolitionist in New York and Canada. Given the
text’s third-person narration and novelistic style, scholars have long debated
its authorship. In this edition, Williamson uncovers new research to support
Loguen as the author, providing essential biographical information and buttressing
the significance of his life and writing. The Rev. J. W. Loguen represents a
fascinating literary hybrid, an experiment in voice and style that enlarges our
understanding of the slave narrative.
7 x 10, 360 pages, 2 black-and-white illustrations, appendix, notes, index
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