Mumbet's Declaration of Independence


Book Description

"All men are born free and equal." Everybody knows about the Founding Fathers and the Declaration of Independence in 1776. But the founders weren't the only ones who believed that everyone had a right to freedom. Mumbet, a Massachusetts enslaved person, believed it too. She longed to be free, but how? Would anyone help her in her fight for freedom? Could she win against the richest man in town? Mumbet was determined to try. Mumbet's Declaration of Independence tells her story for the first time in a picture book biography, and her brave actions set a milestone on the road toward ending slavery in the United States. "The case is fascinating, emphasizing the destructive irony at the heart of the birth of America and making Mumbet an active and savvy architect of her own release, and this is likely to spur much discussion." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books




Answering the Cry for Freedom


Book Description

Uncover the lives of thirteen African-Americans who fought during the Revolutionary War. Even as American Patriots fought for independence from British rule during the Revolutionary War, oppressive conditions remained in place for the thousands of enslaved and free African Americans living in this country. But African Americans took up their own fight for freedom by joining the British and American armies; preaching, speaking out, and writing about the evils of slavery; and establishing settlements in Nova Scotia and Africa. The thirteen stories featured in this collection spotlight charismatic individuals who answered the cry for freedom, focusing on the choices they made and how they changed America both then and now. These individuals include: Boston King, Agrippa Hull, James Armistead Lafayette, Phillis Wheatley, Elizabeth "Mumbet" Freeman, Prince Hall, Mary Perth, Ona Judge, Sally Hemings, Paul Cuffe, John Kizell, Richard Allen, and Jarena Lee. Includes individual bibliographies and timelines, author note, and source notes.




One Minute a Free Woman


Book Description







Matter and Mind


Book Description

This book discusses two of the oldest and hardest problems in both science and philosophy: What is matter?, and What is mind? A reason for tackling both problems in a single book is that two of the most influential views in modern philosophy are that the universe is mental (idealism), and that the everything real is material (materialism). Most of the thinkers who espouse a materialist view of mind have obsolete ideas about matter, whereas those who claim that science supports idealism have not explained how the universe could have existed before humans emerged. Besides, both groups tend to ignore the other levels of existence—chemical, biological, social, and technological. If such levels and the concomitant emergence processes are ignored, the physicalism/spiritualism dilemma remains unsolved, whereas if they are included, the alleged mysteries are shown to be problems that science is treating successfully.




Way Up North in Louisville


Book Description

"Adams makes a splendid contribution to the historical literature of the post-World War II years in African American and U.S. urban and social history. Grounded in careful research from a variety of primary and secondary sources, this book advances a comp




Mother of Freedom


Book Description




Legendary Locals of the Southern Berkshires


Book Description

Southern Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts is a magical place. Some call it paradise. The special synergy that exists here between people and place has inspired remarkable residents for centuries. From Mohican John Konkapot to African American W.E.B. Du Bois, from novelist Catharine Sedgwick to mental health pioneer Agnes Gould, the Housatonic Valley and surrounding hills have proved to be a haven for inventors and industrialists, artists and activists, entrepreneurs, and educators. Stockbridge summer resident and legendary sculptor Daniel Chester French once said to a New York reporter, "I spend six months of the year up there, it is heaven." William Cullen Bryant, Norman Rockwell, Cyrus Field, William Stanley, Elizabeth Freeman (Mumbet), Laura Ingersoll Secord, and numerous other luminaries have all passed on to a different heavenly plane. Still, the Southern Berkshires continue to produce local legends and unsung heroes--folks like community activist Rachel Fletcher, Pastor Charles Van Ausdall, educator Mae Brown, and police chief Rick Wilcox. Open the pages of Legendary Locals of the Southern Berkshires and see for yourself!







Timetables of World Literature


Book Description

Which authors were contemporaries of Charles Dickens? Which books, plays, and poems were published during World War II? Who won the Pulitzer Prize in the year you were born? Timetables of World Literature is a chronicle of literature from ancient times through the 20th century. It answers the question "Who wrote what when?" and allows readers to place authors and their works in the context of their times. A chronology of the best in global writing, this valuable resource lists more than 12,000 titles and 9,800 authors, includes all genres of literature from more than 58 countries, and covers 41 languages. It is divided into seven sections, spanning the Classical Age (to 100 CE), the Middle Ages (100–1500 CE), and the 16th through the 20th centuries. Comprehensive in scope, Timetables of World Literature provides students, researchers, and browsers with basic facts and a worldwide perspective on literature through time. Four extensive indexes by author, title, language/nationality, and genre make research quick and easy. Features include: Birth and death dates as well as nationalities of authors and other literary figures Winners of major literary prizes and awards, such as the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Pulitzer Prizes, for each year Brief discussions of literary developments in each period or century, and the relationship of literature to the social and political climate Timelines of key historical events in each century.