The Freedmen's Book (Lydia Maria Child)

The Freedmen's Book, by "L. Maria Child" (Lydia Maria Child), was published in 1865 by Ticknor and Fields (Boston). It was intended for use by recently freed African Americans, who were flocking to whatever schools they could find in order to learn to read.

have prepared this book expressly for you, with the hope that those of you who can read will read it aloud to others, and that all of you will derive fresh strength and courage from this true record of what colored men have accomplished, under great disadvantages.

I have written all the biographies over again, in order to give you as much information as possible in the fewest words. I take nothing for my services; and the book is sold to you at the cost of paper, printing, and binding. Whatever money you pay for any of the volumes will be immediately invested in other volumes to be sent to freedmen in various parts of the country, on the same terms; and whatever money remains in my hands, when the book ceases to sell, will be given to the Freedmen's Aid Association, to be expended in schools for you and your children.

[Where possible, items in the book found on other sites have been hyperlinked to those pages. In some cases you will need to scroll down to find a specific item.]

	Author	Page
Ignatius Sancho	L. Maria Child	1
Extract from the Tenth Psalm		12
Prejudice Reproved	Lydia H. Sigourney	13
Benjamin Banneker	L. Maria Child	14
Ethiopia [Scroll down to p. 143.]	Frances E. W. Harper*	24
The Hour of Freedom	William Lloyd Garrison	25
William Boen	L. Maria Child	26
Anecdote of General Washington		31
Prayer of the Slave	Bernard Barton	32
Toussaint L'Ouverture	L. Maria Child	33
The Aspirations of Mingo	Mingo, a Slave*	84
Bury Me in a Free Land [first and last stanzas]	Frances E. W. Harper*	85
Phillis Wheatley	L. Maria Child	86
A Pertinent Question	Frederick Douglass*	93
The Works of Providence [through line 62]	Phillis Wheatley*	94
The Dying Christian [stanzas 2, 4, & 5]	Frances E. W. Harper*	96
Kindness to Animals	L. Maria Child	97
James Forten	L. Maria Child	101
The Meeting in the Swamp	L. Maria Child	104
A Reasonable Request	Peter Williams*	110
The Slave Poet	George Horton, a Slave*	111
Ratie	Mattie Griffith	114
The Kingdom of Christ [stanzas 1, 2, & 4]	James Montgomery	123
Progress of Emancipation in the British West Indies	L. Maria Child	124

The Last Night of Slavery	James Montgomery	146
Madison Washington	L. Maria Child	147
Extract from the Virginia Bill of Rights		154
Praise of Creation	George Horton*	155
Frederick Douglass	L. Maria Child	156
How the Good Work Goes On		176
Dedication Hymn	J. M. Whitefield*	177
A Prayer	John G. Whittier	178
William and Ellen Crafts	L. Maria Child	179
Spring	George Horton*	205
The Good Grandmother	Harriet Jacobs*	206
The Colored Mother's Prayer		219
William Costin		220
Education of Children	L. Maria Child	221
Thank God for Little Children	Frances E. W. Harper*	226
Sam and Andy	Harriet Beecher Stowe	227
John Brown	L. Maria Child	241
The Air of Freedom	Frances E. W. Harper*	243
Emancipation in the District of Columbia	James Madison Bell*	244
The Laws of Health	L. Maria Child	246
President Lincoln's Proclamation of Emancipation	Frances E. W. Harper*	250
New-Year's Day on the Islands of South Carolina	Charlotte L. Forten*	251
Song of the Negro Boatmen at Port Royal, S. C.	John G. Whittier	257
Extract from Speech to Colored People in Charleston	Hon. Henry Wilson	259
Extract from Speech to Colored People in Charleston	Hon. Judge Kelly	261
Black Tom	A Yankee Soldier	263
Letter from a Freedman	Jourdon Anderson*	265
Colonel Robert G. Shaw	Eliza B. Sedgwick	268
Advice from an Old Friend	L. Maria Child	269
Day of Jubilee	A. G. Duncan	277

This effort has only begun! I hope to keep working on it, linking to the materials above if they are already available and typing in those that are not.