Flee North, written by Scott Shane completely changed my world view and challenged some long held beliefs and assumptions. This book is a Non-Fiction History, written by a newspaper writer who has written for both the Baltimore Sun and the New York Times.
In this book, set in Baltimore and Washington DC, we learn the true story of some of the people behind the Underground Railroad in the Mid-Atlantic.
Thomas Smallwood was born into slavery in Prince George's County Maryland in 1801. In the 1830's, he educated himself and bought his freedom. He moved to the Navy Yard area of Washington DC and opened a shoe repair shop. By night, he spirited entire households out of slavery and moved them north towards Canada. In his spare time, he wrote dispatches to an Abolitionist newspaper in Albany, New York, taunting the enslavers and police - using the real names of the enslavers and those who he helped escape. Most notably, Thomas Smallwood penned the phrase "Underground Railroad" to describe how abolitionists were helping enslaved people to escape.
Scott Shane is a gifted author who captures the story of the men and women involved in this previously unknown story of one of the most significant players in the Underground Railroad in the Mid-Atlantic.
I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone.
Scott Shane website: https://www.scottshane.org/
New York Times article about the Underground Rail Road: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/11/opinion/man-who-named-underground-railroad.html?unlocked_article_code=aT-JOE56I-XYNjVAR34FNCbfozz964z9f5SdOR2J6LIUlXAZPuA7ZoR4A0ZzSb_IrTe3-LF2XA4uMbAsVvOabWA1WxHF8xSEcWodmId7LsOt2uHXnv6WsrN6Gn8SlEHUAP-l5y-9DiGje4bPD44mNBQFbVvAPg6OdnTCinhq77l1O5Z2o_jNxIZw1pIbzhtRVclYjo5N8mShG4sm0C96NzcsIEXm0Lolvs1VaddsQa-TnqNAt9hGxC4YPDZ8DXx-HfGPaw4FzZoSYcsMEzgwgu3lK3BUpq5PyjivZocoxxd3BMcxf7pKwEslEGJLyWFkzSUx_CEYkYitTzd819kyPjor12q8h_5gX4P95Q&smid=url-share
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