Abolitionist and novelist
William Wells Brown
Kentucky · Lexington
Born into slavery near Lexington, William Wells Brown escaped bondage and became an abolitionist writer and lecturer. His autobiography and novel Clotel offer two ways to read his critique of slavery.
On the shelves
Books in the collection
Fiction
Clotel
William Wells Brown
Brown’s novel follows women navigating slavery and family separation in the early United States.
Memoir
Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave
William Wells Brown
Brown describes enslavement and escape, illuminating a life that began near Lexington and led into abolitionism.
From the Lyric
Continue the story
Reading notes / 01
Black Hamlets of the Bluegrass
Freedom, land, and the work of building communities in and beyond Kentucky.
Read Black Hamlets of the BluegrassReading notes / 02
Kentucky Black Writers
Poetry, fiction, memoir, and essays by writers with documented Kentucky ties.
Read Kentucky Black Writers