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The Heroic Bid for Freedom on the Underground Railroad
William Morrow
February 2007
On Sale: January 30, 2007
448 pages
ISBN: 0060786590
EAN: 9780060786595
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction | Non-Fiction History
On the evening of April 15, 1848, seventy-seven slaves
attempted one of history's most audacious escapes—and put in
motion a furiously fought battle over slavery in America
that would consume Congress, the streets of the capital, and
the White House itself. Setting sail from Washington, D.C.,
on a schooner named the Pearl, the fugitives began a daring
225-mile journey to freedom in the North. Mary Kay Ricks's
unforgettable chronicle brings to life the Underground
Railroad's largest escape attempt, the seemingly immutable
politics of slavery, and the individuals who struggled to
end it. All the while, Ricks focuses her narrative on the
intimate story of two young sisters who were onboard the
Pearl, and sets their struggle for liberation against the
powerful historical forces that would nearly tear the
country apart. After a terrifyingly calm night, the wind came up as the sun
rose the next morning, and the small schooner shot off down
the Potomac River. Hours later, stunned owners—including a
former first lady, a shipping magnate, a former congressman,
a federal marshal, and a Baptist minister—raised the alarm.
Authorities quickly formed a posse that chased the fugitives
down the river. But with a head start and a robust wind that
filled their sails, the Pearl raced ahead—unaware that a
violent squall was moving into their path and would halt
their bid for freedom. Escape on the Pearl reveals the incredible odyssey of those
who were onboard, including the remarkable lives of
fugitives Mary and Emily Edmonson, the two sisters at the
heart of the story, who would trade servitude in elite
Washington homes for slave pens in three states. Through the
efforts of the sisters' father and the northern "conductor"
who had helped organize the escape, an abolitionist outcry
arose in the North, calling for the two girls to be rescued.
Ultimately, Mary and Emily would go on to stand shoulder to
shoulder with such abolitionist luminaries as Frederick
Douglass and attend Oberlin College under the sponsorship of
Harriet Beecher Stowe. A story of courage and determination, Escape on the Pearl
revives one of the most poignant chapters of U.S. history.
The Edmonsons, the other fugitives of the Pearl, and those
who helped them can now take their rightful place as
American heroes.
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