Frances Harper's fourth novel follows the beautiful Iola Leroy to tell the story of black families in slavery,during the Civil War, and after Emancipation. Written by the foremost black woman activist of thenineteenth century, the novel sheds light on the movements for abolition, public education, and votingrights. This edition engages the latest research on Harper's life and work and offers way to teach these majormoments in United States history in ways that center the experiences of African Americans. Theappendices provide primary documents that help readers do what they are seldom encouraged to do:consider the experiences and perspectives of people who are not white.

Frances Smith Foster has rediscovered three novels by Frances E.W. Harper, the best-known Africa-American writer of the nineteeny century and author of the classic Iola Leroy. Originally serialized in issues of THE CHRISTIAN RECORDER between 1868 and 1888, these works are the first written specifically for an African-American audience; they address issues of passing, social responsibility, courtship, sexuality, and temperance. Winner of the College Language Associateion Book Award, these novels make a profound contribution to our understanding of a crucial era in American history