Hannah Crafts

Hannah Bond, also known by her pen name Hannah Crafts (born c. 1830s),[1] was an American writer who escaped from slavery in North Carolina about 1857 and went to the North. Bond settled in New Jersey, likely married Thomas Vincent, and became a teacher. She wrote The Bondwoman's Narrative by Hannah Crafts after gaining freedom.[2] It is the only known novel by an enslaved woman.[3]

Written between 1853 and 1861, the novel was published in 2002 for the first time after Henry Louis Gates, Jr., a Harvard University professor of African-American literature and history, purchased the manuscript and had it authenticated.[4] It rapidly became a bestseller.

Bond's identity was documented in 2013 by Gregg Hecimovich of Furman University, who found that she had been owned by John Hill Wheeler of Murfreesboro, North Carolina. He had identified many details of her life. Gates and other major scholars have supported his conclusions.[1]

  1. ^ a b Bosman, Julie (September 18, 2013). "Professor Says He Has Solved a Mystery Over a Slave's Novel". The New York Times.[original research?]
  2. ^ Foner, Eric (February 2, 2016). Gateway to freedom : the hidden history of the underground railroad. National Geographic Books. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-393-35219-1. OCLC 1086231994.
  3. ^ Rodriguez, Crystal (2013). "Hannah Bond". NCPEDIA. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  4. ^ Crafts, Hannah; Gates, Henry Louis (2003). The bondwoman's narrative (1. trade print ed.). New York, NY: Warner Books. ISBN 978-0-446-69029-4.