Jean Fagan Yellin (1930–2023)

Prof. Yellin has not only brought to life a remarkable woman whose daughter could have 'passed,' but chose not to. Yellin has brought to light, through the life of Harriet Jacobs a series of community connections from the Deep South to Boston which were created and used to help people in the most desperate of circumstances during the overcrowded wartime Federal City.

Prof. Yellin has not only brought to life a remarkable woman whose daughter could have 'passed,' but chose not to. Yellin has brought to light, through the life of Harriet Jacobs a series of community connections from the Deep South to Boston which were created and used to help people in the most desperate of circumstances during the overcrowded wartime Federal City.

I am working on a project concerning black women in 19th century upstate New York and some of the other books I was reading kept mentioning Harriet Jacobs. So I thought I should read something about Jacobs and this biography looked easier to read (in 20th century English instead of 19th century English) than Jacobs' own book [b:Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl|152519|Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl |Harriet Jacobs|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328866399s/152519.jpg|330710].

This show more book was interesting and it is not written in that academic I-just-got-them-to-publish-my-thesis-with-a-pretty-picture-on-the-cover style that puts me to sleep.

It was surprising to find out that there was a school up here in Clinton, NY, Kellogg Academy, that enrolled both black and white boys and girls in the 1830's and 40's. But conditions got a lot worse before they got better. I remember somebody mentioning the Missouri Compromise of 1850 in school but I never actually understood the negative impact that it had on ordinary people in upstate NY. Now I'll remember something about Millard Fillmore. show less

Prof. Yellin has not only brought to life a remarkable woman whose daughter could have 'passed,' but chose not to. Yellin has brought to light, through the life of Harriet Jacobs a series of community connections from the Deep South to Boston which were created and used to help people in the most desperate of circumstances during the overcrowded wartime Federal City.