Research Guides: Slavery & Freedom in Maryland: Slave Narratives

About Slave Narratives

Slave narratives are a rich source of information about the personal experiences of individual African Americans in early American society. Special Collections at the University of Maryland is home to a wide variety of slave narrative and oral histories that document the individual experiences of slaves within the state.

"Twenty-Eight Fugitives Escaping from the Eastern Shore of Maryland." From: Still, William, The Underground Rail Road... (Philadelphia: Wm. Still, 1883).

Because detailed information is not always available about how these narratives were compiled or published, it is important to examine them carefully as primary sources. The following are important analytical questions to consider when looking at personal narratives:

When was the source written and/or published? Is it an account from the time period or a later recollection?
Where was the source produced?
Who created the source? Is it a first-hand account? Was it recorded or written down by another person?
What is the source? Is it a diary, published narrative, oral history interview, or something else?

For more information about how to use sources for your research, visit the interpreting primary and secondary sources guide from the University of Maryland Libraries.

"Crossing the River on Horseback in the Night." From: Still, William, The Underground Rail Road... (Philadelphia: Wm. Still, 1883).

Slave narratives and oral histories are searchable in the University of Maryland Libraries' online catalog. Use the list on the right to browse a selection of narratives available in the Maryland Room, or refer to the searching the catalog section of this guide for more information about searching the UMD online catalog.

Notable Marylanders

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave by Frederick Douglass
Call Number: Maryland E449 .D746 1963
ISBN: 0300087012
Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday [c1845, 1963]

Frederick Douglass and Josiah Henson are two notable African-Americans in Maryland History. Below is a list of narratives documenting their lives as slaves. Click on the title to view the full catalog record.

You can also locate additional slave narratives using the "Slavery -- United States -- Personal narratives" subject heading when searching the UM online catalog.

My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass
Call Number: Maryland Rare E449 .D738
New York, Miller, Orton & Mulligan, 1855.
Life and Times of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
Call Number: Maryland Rare E449 .D74
Hartford, Conn., Park Publishing, 1881.
Father Henson’s Story by Josiah Henson
Call Number: Maryland E444 .H52 1970
ISBN: 1163772682
Upper Saddle River, N.J., Literature House [1970].
The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself by Josiah Hensen
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks E444 .H52 1849
Boston, A. D. Phelps, 1849.
Truth Stranger Than Fiction: Father Henson’s Story of his Own Life / With an Introduction by Mrs. H.B. Stowe by Josiah Henson
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks E444 .H523
Boston: J.P. Jewett and Company, 1858.

Additional Slave Narratives

Fifty Years in Chains, or, The life of an American Slave by Charles Ball
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks E444 .B18 1858
New York: H. Dayton; Indianapolis: Dayton & Asher, 1858.

Listed below is a selection of additional slave narratives and oral histories, arranged alphabetically, that are available in the Maryland Room. Click on the title to view the full catalog record.

You can also locate additional slave narratives using the "Slavery -- United States -- Personal narratives" subject heading when searching the UM online catalog.

From Slavery to Salvation: The Autobiography of Rev. Thomas W. Henry of the A.M.E. Church by Thomas W. Henry
Call Number: Maryland BX8449.H46 A3 1994
Edited, with an introduction and a historical essay, by Jean Libby; foreword by Edward C. Papenfuse.
Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, c1994.
The Life of John Thompson, a Fugitive Slave; Containing his History of 25 Years in Bondage, and His Providential Escape. Written by himself. by John Thompson
Call Number: Maryland Rare E444 .T47
Worcester, J. Thompson, 1856.
A Narrative of the Life of Rev. Noah Davis, a Colored Man, Written by Himself, at the Age of Fifty-Four by Noah Davis
Call Number: Maryland Rare BX6455.D3 D3
Baltimore, J. F. Weishampel, Jr. [1859]
Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States, from Interviews with Former Slaves: Kansas, Kentucky and Maryland Narratives by Federal Writers’ Project
Call Number: Maryland E445.K16 F4 1976
St. Clair Shores, Mich. : Scholarly Press, 1976.
Slave Narratives: A folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves. by Federal Writers’ Project
Call Number: Maryland Microfilm E444 .F27
Washington, 1941.
Some Memoirs of the Life of Job, the Son of Solomon, the High Priest of Boonda in Africa; Who was a Slave About two years in Maryland; and Afterwards Being Brought to England, was Set Free, and Sent to his Native Land in the Year 1734. By Thomas Bluett. by Thomas Bluett
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks E444 .J62
London, Printed for R. Ford, 1734.
Twelve Years a Slave. Narrative of Solomon Northup, A Citizen of New-York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841, and Rescued in 1853, from a Cotton Plantation near the Red River, in Louisiana by Solomon Northup
Call Number: Rare Stacks E444 .N87
Auburn, Derby and Miller; Buffalo, Derby, Orton and Mulligan; [etc., etc.] 1853.
The Underground Rail Road: A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters, &c., Narrating the Hardships, Hair-Breadth Escapes, and Death Struggles of the Slaves in their Efforts for Freedom, as Related by Themselves and Others or Witnessed by the Author by William Still
Call Number: Maryland Rare Stacks E450 .S85 1883
Philadelphia: Wm. Still, publisher, 244 South 12th Street, Philadelphia, 1883.