Ellen and William Craft

Ellen and William Craft

spouse duo

Ein occupation	writer
Ethnic group	African Americans
Social classification	slave
Significant event	escape

Ellen Craft (1826–1891) den William Craft (September 25, 1824 – January 29, 1900) na dem be American abolitionists wey na dem born dem into slavery insyd Macon, Georgia. Na dem escape to de Northern United States insyd December 1848 by traveling by train den steamboat, wey dem arrive insyd Philadelphia on Christmas Day. Ellen cross de boundaries of race, class, den gender by passing as a white planter plus William dey pose as ein servant. Na dema escape be widely publicized, wey make dem among de most famous fugitive slaves insyd de United States. Na abolitionists feature dem insyd public lectures make dem gain support insyd de struggle to end de institution.

As prominent fugitives, na dem be threatened by slave catchers insyd Boston after de passage of de Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, so de Crafts emigrate to England. Na dem live der for nearly two decades wey na dem raise five kiddies. Na de Crafts lecture publicly about dema escape den oppose de Confederate States of America during de American Civil War. Insyd 1860, na dem publish a written account of dema escape dem title Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; Or, The Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery. One of de most compelling of de chaw slave narratives dem publish before de Civil War, na dema book reach wide audiences insyd de United Kingdom den de United States. After dema return to de U.S. insyd 1868, na de Crafts open an agricultural school insyd Georgia for freedmen dema kiddies. Dem work at de school den ein farm til 1890. Na dem reprint dema account insyd de United States insyd 1999, plus both de Crafts dem credit as authors.

Early life

Na dem born Ellen Craft insyd 1826 insyd Clinton, Georgia, to Maria, a mixed-race enslaved woman, den ein wealthy planter slaveholder, Major James Smith. At least three-quarters European by ancestry, na Ellen be very fair-skinned wey na she resemble ein white half-siblings, wey na dem be enslaver ein legitimate kiddies. Na Smith ein wifey give de 11-year-old Ellen as a wedding gift to ein daughter, Eliza Cromwell Smith, to get de girl out of de household den remove de evidence of ein husby ein infidelity.

After Eliza Smith marry Dr. Robert Collins, she take Ellen plus ma make she live insyd de city of Macon wer na dem make dema home. Ellen grow up as a house servant to Eliza, wich na e give am privileged access to information about de area.

Na dem born William insyd Macon, wer na he meet ein future wifey at de age of 16 wen na ein first enslaver sell am make she settle gambling debts. Before na dem sell am, na William witness dem separate ein 14-year-old sisto den ein parents by sales to different owners. Na William ein new enslaver apprentice am as a carpenter wey he allow am he work for fees, taking most of ein earnings.

Marriage den family

At age 20, Ellen marry William Craft, in whom ein enslaver Collins hold a half interest. Na Craft save money from being hired out insyd town as a carpenter. Not wanting to have a family insyd slavery, during de Christmas season of 1848, na de couple plan an escape.

Read further

• Craft, Ellen; Craft, William; Blackett, R. J. M. (1999) [1860]. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom: Or, The Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 978-0807123201.
• Blackett, R. J. M. (1986). Beating against the barriers: biographical essays in nineteenth-century Afro-American history. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 978-0807112816.
• Brusky, Sarah (October 2000). "The travels of William and Ellen Craft: race and travel literature in the 19th century". Prospects. 25: 177–92. doi:10.1017/S0361233300000636.
• Chaney, Michael A. (2008). "The uses in seeing: mobilizing the portrait in drag in Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom". In Chaney, Michael A. (ed.). Fugitive vision: slave image and Black identity in antebellum narrative. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 80–110. ISBN 978-0253349446.
• McPherson, James M (1988). Battle cry of freedom. The Oxford history of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-503863-7.
• Murray, Hannah-Rose (2020). Advocates of Freedom: African American Transatlantic Abolitionism in the British Isles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-48751-1.
• Salenius, Sirpa (2017). "Transatlantic interracial sisterhoods: Sarah Remond, Ellen Craft, and Harriet Jacobs in England". Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies. 38 (1): 166–96. doi:10.5250/fronjwomestud.38.1.0166. JSTOR 10.5250/fronjwomestud.38.1.0166. S2CID 164419591.
• Samuels, Ellen (September 2006). "'A Complication of Complaints': untangling disability, race, and gender in William and Ellen Craft's Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom". MELUS. 31 (3): 15–47. doi:10.1093/melus/31.3.15. JSTOR i30029647.
• Sterling, Dorothy (1988). Black foremothers: three lives (2nd ed.). Old Westbury, New York: Feminist Press. ISBN 978-0935312898.
• Still, William (1872). The Underground Railroad. pp. 60–61, 177–89, 558–59.
• Wardro, Daneen (2004). "Ellen Craft and the case of Salomé Muller in 'Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom'". Women's Studies. 33 (7): 961–84. doi:10.1080/00497870490503824. S2CID 143536234.
• Woo, Ilyon (2023). Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781501191053.

External links

• Works by Ellen and William Craft in eBook form at Standard Ebooks
• Works by Ellen Craft at Project Gutenberg
• Works by William Craft at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Ellen Craft at the Internet Archive
• Works by or about William Craft at the Internet Archive
• Works by Ellen and William Craft at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• Re-enactor Marcia Estabrook presents Ellen Craft's story in-character, PBS- WGBH
• "Ellen and William Craft", The Memory Palace, podcast