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Free Black Communities and the Underground Railroad: The Geography of Resistance Kindle Edition

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 34 ratings

This enlightening study employs the tools of archaeology to uncover a new historical perspective on the Underground Railroad. Unlike previous histories of the Underground Railroad, which have focused on frightened fugitive slaves and their benevolent abolitionist accomplices, Cheryl LaRoche focuses instead on free African American communities, the crucial help they provided to individuals fleeing slavery, and the terrain where those flights to freedom occurred.
 
This study foregrounds several small, rural hamlets on the treacherous southern edge of the free North in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. LaRoche demonstrates how landscape features such as waterways, iron forges, and caves played a key role in the conduct and effectiveness of the Underground Railroad. Rich in oral histories, maps, memoirs, and archaeological investigations, this examination of the "geography of resistance" tells the new powerful and inspiring story of African Americans ensuring their own liberation in the midst of oppression.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Geography of Resistance is carefully researched, tightly organized, and written from the heart.--The Annals of Iowa

"LaRoche's well-written and carefully researched study provides new insight into the history of the Underground Railroad and will serve as an indispensable resource for anyone who is interested in the study of early nineteenth-century America."--
The Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society

"LaRoche's work contributes to a more complete understanding of the relationship between free black communities, the black church, and the Underground Railroad."--
American Historical Review

"Well researched and well written. . . .
The Geography of Resistance: Free Black Communities and the Underground Railroad adds valuable new insights into the story of the migration of African Americans. It broadens the knowledge of a people who were fugitives in their own country, and it will allow future researchers to uncover other places of refuge for these African Americans."--Northern Terminus: The African Canadian History Journal

"Employing the tools of archeology, LaRoche's study provides a powerful new window into the Underground Railroad and significantly enriches our understanding of it. She helps rescue some of the crucial Underground Railroad lore that scholars have been attempting to substantiate or refute for more than a century."--Keith Griffler, author of
Front Line of Freedom: African Americans and the Forging of the Underground Railroad in the Ohio Valley

"LaRoche deserves praise for her effort to situate free blacks firmly at the center of the scholarship on the Underground Railroad.  She also makes contribution to that body of literature."--
Civil War Book Review

 

"
The Geography of Resistance is carefully researched, tightly organized, and written from the heart. . . .  LaRoche recognizes the natural environment as an agent of history, and she deftly weaves the landscape into each story.  The book demonstrates the level of scholarship that is now possible thanks to research conducted in recent decades by federal archaeologists and by African American historical organizations, and the work that has been encouraged and guided by the National Park Service."--Annals of Iowa

"In this book Cheryl Janifer LaRoche provides a corrective to this gap in the history by taking a broader landscape approach to 'geographies of resistance,' and she also traces in understated terms but powerful examples the silencing of the same history."--
The Journal of American History

 


"An exemplary model of nuanced, interdisciplinary scholarship."--
Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

"This important addition to the scholarship on the Underground Railroad focuses on the role of free black communities. . . . Utilizing archaeology, previously untapped written sources, and oral history, the author makes a convincing argument for including black communities in the narrative about the Underground Railroad. Highly recommended."--
Choice

"By considering the land itself a ‘geography of resistance’ and using an interdisciplinary approach, LaRoche pushes the boundaries of traditional scholarship. LaRoche marshals significant historical evidence to connect black churches and the Underground Railroad. Quite notable indeed."--
The Journal of Southern History

"Of interest to lay readers and scholars alike. Anyone fascinated by the Underground Railroad and black resistance more broadly will profit from this volume."--
Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains

About the Author


Cheryl LaRoche is a lecturer in American studies at the University of Maryland.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00MQ8YXMK
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Illinois Press; 1st Edition (December 30, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 30, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2029 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 243 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 34 ratings

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Cheryl Janifer LaRoche
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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
34 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book informative and well-researched. They appreciate its pacing and writing style, which describe the struggle for freedom and posterity in the 1800s in the Midwest. The book provides an insightful look into the Underground Railroad and its communities.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

6 customers mention "Information quality"6 positive0 negative

Customers find the book informative and well-written. It provides insights into history of that time and includes specific details that add to the usual Underground Railroad picture. Readers appreciate the author's research, analysis, and organization. The book is engaging and empowers them.

"This book has outstanding research in it and is well-written...." Read more

"Purchased book because it contained info about my ancestors! Very informative. Gave insight to the history of that time!..." Read more

"...The research in this book not only enlightens but empowers...." Read more

"...A must read for student, scholar, historian, and anyone interested in this shameful but inspirational period of American history...." Read more

3 customers mention "Pacing"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's pacing good. They mention it deals with everyday life and the struggle for freedom and posterity in the 1800s in the Midwest. The book is inspiring, though a shameful time in American history.

"...great African American depiction of everyday life and struggle for freedom and posterity!" Read more

"...historian, and anyone interested in this shameful but inspirational period of American history. Michael Kirkland" Read more

"Deals with the issues of escaping from slavery in the 1800's in the Midwest. Pretty specific stuff...." Read more

3 customers mention "Writing quality"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-written and engaging. They appreciate the author's descriptions of the landscape and the role free black communities, geographical features, and churches played in their development. The book is a must-read for students, scholars, historians, and anyone interested in this topic.

"This book has outstanding research in it and is well-written...." Read more

"...by documenting the role that free black communities, geographic landscape features, and Black churches played in the emancipation of escapees from..." Read more

"...LaRoche does an excellent job of describing the landscape of these communities, and she makes some of the communities' residents come live on the..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2023
    This book has outstanding research in it and is well-written. I would recommend to anyone interested in American history and African-American history.
  • Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2021
    Purchased book because it contained info about my ancestors! Very informative. Gave insight to the history of that time! Also great African American depiction of everyday life and struggle for freedom and posterity!
    4 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2014
    Cheryl LaRoche does a masterful job of identifying little-known pockets of resistance on the Underground Railroad. I had no idea about some of the rich experiences she tells. I was especially interested in her discussion of the role of the Black Church as a consistent site of action. The research in this book not only enlightens but empowers. I'm anxious to share the book with my friends and family so they too can see history with new eyes.
    4 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2014
    Doctor LaRoche's groundbreaking study dispels many of the myths and legends surrounding the Underground Railroad of the 19th century by documenting the role that free black communities, geographic landscape features, and Black churches played in the emancipation of escapees from the South. The painstaking research, analysis, and organization of her unique material are overwhelmingly compelling.
    A must read for student, scholar, historian, and anyone interested in this shameful but inspirational period of American history.

    Michael Kirkland
    8 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2021
    Deals with the issues of escaping from slavery in the 1800's in the Midwest. Pretty specific stuff. Adds a lot to the usual Underground Railroad picture.
    2 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2014
    This is an engaging, almost poetic discussion of the existence and development of four free black communities and their relationship to the Underground Railroad. LaRoche does an excellent job of describing the landscape of these communities, and she makes some of the communities' residents come live on the page. A well written study that both scholars and non-scholars should enjoy. Read today!
    3 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2017
    Great book
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2014
    Great

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