Harriet Ann Jacobs

Harriet Ann Jacobs (1813-1897) was a writer and abolitionist. Born into slavery in Edenton, North Carolina, Jacobs escaped at the age of twenty-seven and eventually obtained freedom for herself and her two children, Joseph and Louisa. Written more than ten years after her escape, Jacobs's autobiographical novel, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl , was one of the first books to address issues of gender in slavery. It shed much-needed light on the unique obstacles these women faced-...See more

Harriet Ann Jacobs (1813-1897) was a writer and abolitionist. Born into slavery in Edenton, North Carolina, Jacobs escaped at the age of twenty-seven and eventually obtained freedom for herself and her two children, Joseph and Louisa. Written more than ten years after her escape, Jacobs's autobiographical novel, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl , was one of the first books to address issues of gender in slavery. It shed much-needed light on the unique obstacles these women faced--including abusive owners, conflicts with female identity, and motherhood as a slave. Having spent much of her life fighting for freedom and advocating for gender equality, Jacobs died in Washington, DC, at the age of eighty-four. See less