, on the day of his birthday March 30th! This day also represents his first day of freedom!At the end of the story, I thought, did Henry ever reunite with his wife and children again? How could he find them, even if he wanted to? Was he ever found and sent back to the south? What did he do in Philadelphia once he gained his freedom?
I found that upon Henry's arrival to Philadelphia, he wrote an autobiography titled, The Narrative of Henry Box Brown, with the help of Charles Stearns. He also created a panorama titled Mirror of Slavery that involved a series of scences detailing his life as a slave and his escape in the crate. http://www.mcps.org/ss/5thgrade/boxbrown.pdf
The author's note at the back of the story states that he never found his wife and children, and it is believed that he remarried in England in 1850.
I admire Henry for his valor and commitment to his family. He risked his life and used his experiences to teach the world about slavery and cruel realities that he and his wife and children endured. So many slaves throughout this time period were separated from their families and faced harsh living conditions that are unimaginable - and it's important to remember these families and how their accomplishments inspired others to follow in their footsteps of attaining independence and equal rights.
This sounds like such a powerful story, especially being that these are true accounts from Henry's life! You're review intrigued me and so I began to Google Henry Box Brown. I learned that there is a memorial for him in Box Brown Plaza in Richmond, VA. I appreciate that this biography is able to share Henry's story with audiences young and old. Students would enjoy reading about the accounts of Henry's life, but I, too, was left wondering and interested about his struggles and triumphs. Had I not been introduced to this book, I would have never sought out additional information. Now I want to drive up to Richmond to Box Brown Plaza! (Found information on the Plaza under "Classroom Resources" at http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://housedivided.dickinson.edu/ugrr/documents/Lesson_Plan_Ragsdale_files/image005.jpg&imgrefurl=http://housedivided.dickinson.edu/ugrr/documents/Lesson_Plan_Ragsdale.htm&usg=__Zr5m7qRgE91TvasplUgC6WC-ufM=&h=640&w=480&sz=43&hl=en&start=17&sig2=v5Y74hwENaBDqJLJOYrekg&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=kH9cxxrgKpT9zM:&tbnh=137&tbnw=103&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmirror%2Bof%2Bslavery%2Bhenry%2Bbrown%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7DKUS_en%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=Wo6BS7_jJozoswOWjdWBBA)
ReplyDeleteI read this story to my kids today and shared this with them! I had one student that has visited the site and remembers it from when he was 4 years old! Might be a good opportunity for a road trip to check it out! How cool!
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