Depots of the Underground Railroad

Gr 3–5—Each title is designed to resemble an archaeological field book. Some text appears on what looks like paper torn from a spiral notebook, and most illustrations are placed slightly aslant, as if they were pasted on in a hurry. The content focuses mainly on how tangible, physical objects and places became part of a larger historical narrative. For instance, Depots of the Underground Railroad goes beyond describing the Underground Railroad as a group of nonspecific places where people stopped for help after they escaped from slavery—it examines the roles of specific stops, such as the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn. In Slavery at Mount Vernon, there is an account discussing how archaeological digs around the slave quarters at Mount Vernon yielded bones of dozens of kinds of animals, thereby shedding light on how slaves supplemented their meager rations.