Harriet Jacobs: A Life

by Jean Fagan Yellin

In this remarkable biography, Jean Fagan Yellin recounts the full adventures of Harriet Jacobs, before and after slavery. Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl , one of the most widely read slave narratives of all time, recounts through the pseudonymous character named "Linda" the adventures of a young female slave who spent seven years in her grandmother's attic hiding from her sexually abusive and cruel master. Jean Yellin takes us inside that attic with Harriet Jacobs and then follows her on her escape to the North, where she found safe haven with Quaker abolitionists. Drawing upon decades of original research with never-before-seen archival sources, Yellin creates a complete picture of the events that inspired Incidents and offers the first rounded picture of Jacobs's life in the thirty-six years after the book's publication. Harassed by her former owner, living under threat of recapture until the end of the Civil War, Jacobs survived poverty, ran a boarding house, and built a career as a political writer and speaker, struggling all the while to provide for her family. Jean Yellin brings to life the struggles and triumphs of this extraordinary woman whose life reflected all the major changes of the nineteenth century, from slavery to the Civil War to Reconstruction to the origins of the modern Civil Rights movement.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, African American, Race, American History, Civil War

432 pages, Paperback

First published December 24, 2003

Reviews

[Ashley Harp · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could have been an interesting story, but I didn't think it was written very well. There were a lot of added details and side stories about different people who didn't play much of a role in Harriet Jacobs life. There were also a lot of suppositions and possibilities thrown out. I understand the facts may have not been known, but it was put a little oddly to me.

[Charlotte Kersten]

(Cw abuse and sexual violence) I'm taking a whole star off of this because of how mad it made me when Yellin stated that Jacobs' impassioned hatred for her master -the man who sexually, emotionally, verbally and physically abused and harassed her and her family for years, in addition to, you know, owning her and exerting control over every aspect of her life- was probably so intense because of the psychological side effects of her time in hiding. Are you kidding me with this, Yellin? Fuck right off.
Other than that one bewilderingly stupid take, this is a great biography of a remarkable woman - Harriet Jacobs was a formerly-enslaved black woman who fought for her freedom and that of her children and authored the first American female slave narrative. In addition to this, I learned in this biography that she was also incredibly active in the support of black refugees during and after the Civil War. For years people assumed that Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was a fictional work, until Yellin made the connection between Jacobs and Incidents and dedicated decades to studying her life.

[Tammie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book that entwines the narrative of Harriet Jacob's life (written by herself) and the factual information gathered from documents by Jean Fagan Yellin. This book is a fantastic view into the life of a person who goes from a girl (not even knowing she was a slave) to a young adult who uses the only thing she has (sex) to escape a brutal master and get freedom for her children and herself, to a woman who makes several large accomplishments in her life such as becoming a published author to being a integral part in the abolition of slavery. A must read.

[Ivonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic biography of a personal hero, Harriet Jacobs, an amazing woman, escaped slave, and womanist. Definitely worth the read and kudos to Dr. Yellin who helped rescue Jacobs work from the oblivion of a racist history.

[Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jean Fagan Yellin's work in documenting the fact that Harriet Jacobs' incredible narrative is in fact an autobiography and not the fabrication of Lydia Maria Child permanently puts scholars in her debt. She is naturally in the best position to write the first biography of Jacobs. The book she produces is in a few respects a disappointment however. Most of the first half of the book necessarily relies on Jacobs' own narrative and is relegated to filling in documentary details here and there where available. All too often here the book slides into the subjunctive, telling us what Jacobs must have felt or surely knew. Where the volume really earns the reader's praise is in its second half, where Jacobs' narrative ends. Here Yellin digs up all kinds of fascinating information showing Jacobs' crucial role before, during and after the Civil War in agitating for the rights and education of newly emancipated African Americans. At one time, Jacobs' role as reporter on the spot (in Savannah, of all places) was absolutely critical in keeping northern abolitionists aware of developments down south after the war. Jacobs seemingly knew everyone important and (along with her daughter Louisa) was present at the moment when post-war unity among black and white activists broke down along the issue of whether women's voting rights should take precedence over the right to vote for black males. Yellin amply documents Jacobs' slow receding from the front lines of these issues and debates. She shows how and why Jacobs more or less disappears from historical view, such that her role as slave narrative author and antislavery activist becomes all but invisible. If the first half of the book feels like a less thrilling rehashing of Jacobs' own words, the historical excavations of the second half more than make up for it.

[Roberta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am working on a project concerning black women in 19th century upstate New York and some of the other books I was reading kept mentioning Harriet Jacobs. So I thought I should read something about Jacobs and this biography looked easier to read (in 20th century English instead of 19th century English) than Jacobs' own book Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.

This book was interesting and it is not written in that academic I-just-got-them-to-publish-my-thesis-with-a-pretty-picture-on-the-cover style that puts me to sleep.

It was surprising to find out that there was a school up here in Clinton, NY, Kellogg Academy, that enrolled both black and white boys and girls in the 1830's and 40's. But conditions got a lot worse before they got better. I remember somebody mentioning the Missouri Compromise of 1850 in school but I never actually understood the negative impact that it had on ordinary people in upstate NY. Now I'll remember something about Millard Fillmore.

[Gina Cesati · Rating 4 out of 5]

I may be biased in my opinion of this book as I am an admirer of Harriet Jacobs. However, this book was one of my top reads in the last few months. Yellin is an excellent historian and there I no better person to write the first published biography of Jacobs. Her narrative mirrors the incredible events of her life, legitimizing the authenticity of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Yellin uses both biographical fact and historical narrative to weave a compelling account of the life of Harriet Jacobs. Her story truly "comes alive" and I realized this woman was more than the narrative she left behind. Her struggle shines light on the underrepresented narratives of slave women and you can't help but wonder about the others Jacobs represents. Her work with the Freedmen's Bureau is inspiring and Yellin details how her narrative came to be published. It's an effective account of the trauma Jacobs experienced as an exploited slave and as a runaway- the most compelling moment for me happened when Yellin detailed how Jacobs lived in an attic crawl space for years before being able to make a run for it. For anyone who is an admirer of Incidents and Jacobs, this is a must read.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before reading this remarkable biography of this female slave turned escapee , I had never heard of Harriet Jacobs...As a young adult, she fled the house of her master, a doctor who was bent on raping and using her for progeny to populate his slave numbers....After arriving safely in the north, she was interviewed by abolitionists and her story became well known among their circles there.....So why is she not as well known as Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass?..Certainly her bravery and ability to hide herself in a narrow box for long periods of time while being secretly transported to the North is no less heroic than the feats of the other well known slaves who escaped...She also managed to get her daughter out with her, no small feat during that time..Excerpts are taken from Harriet's interviews that give the reader a sense of being there and speaking with her as she recounts her harrowing tale of survival....Recommended for all enthusiasts of black history and the history of slavery in the USA.

[Nia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prof. Yellin has not only brought to life a remarkable woman whose daughter could have 'passed,' but chose not to. Yellin has brought to light, through the life of Harriet Jacobs a series of community connections from the Deep South to Boston which were created and used to help people in the most desperate of circumstances during the overcrowded wartime Federal City.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic biography of the subject of the famous slave narrative "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl." The book is well written and an interesting read that adds so much to the originial narrative.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written, reads like a novel. I compare it to Ann Hagedorn's Beyond the River. Harriet Jacobs was a heroic woman whose resilience and industry seem unmatched in modern times.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoyed Incidents In the Life of a Slave Girl and want historical background and more information about Jacobs' family and relations, you should definitely read this book!

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent...a perfect companion to "Incidents..."

[Rebekah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first part was really good; I was excited to learn the real stories behind Jacobs' occasionally simplified or diluted biography. The second part could have been better--quite often I got lost, as it became a "this-then-that-then-she-moved-here" and I lost the thread more easily. I also wish that Yellin had speculated on parts of Jacobs' life, the parts that were not passed down to us, more--she hints that perhaps Jacobs took a lover after she went to freedom, but then also contradicted that view. I was hoping she would delve into Jacobs' narrative a little and speculate on Jacobs' relationship with her children's father and also her relationship with her master--the parts that she skipped over in her original biography and the parts that always worried me as a reader in the 21st century.

[Sky · Rating 4 out of 5]

While being a personal odyssey of sorts through the heinous and true experience of a female Slave during the 1800s, the Incidents in the life of a slave girl, also promotes the condemnation of slavery, and the hypocritical state of the feminist agenda at the time; where black women were simply neglected to be included. The book is filled with emotional pleas for abolition and makes sharp points against the Institution of slavery itself as a whole and the sexism black american women were forced to face due to slavery. I enjoyed this book because it differed from the slave narratives i've been accustomed to reading which come from a male point of view and seldomly go into depth about the irony of the realtionship between female slaves and their female masters so as well as discussing slavery and racism it tackled other issues as well.

[Rochelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well written biography of one of the most influential voices of the slavery era. Mrs. Jacobs was an incredible woman...not because she was a slave but because she REFUSED to accept that that was all she was, and she fought for her freedom as well as the freedom of her children and others. She also was not content merely with freedom of body..but of mind and soul...she worked tirelessly to help educate, equip and assist ALL who needed it often at the risk to her own health and safety. An incredible life.

[Tom Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read and weep - Outside of ending the depredations of the slave catcher (in the North that is) the Civil War did little to end the exploitation and inhuman suffering of African Americans. - From page 6; of slave revolts, of white fear, came the white man's obsessive need for weapons to defend his woman and home from the Monstrous Black Man? Wonder how much of that lurid, overwrought history drives today's white Rambos to stockpile assault weapons, play dress-up, wave enemy flags (Nazi, Confederate Battle), join militias, vote Republican, scream, "get out of my country", etc., etc. There were so many villains in Harriet's life, from Dr. Norcom, lecherous slaver, to Reverend Gladwin, money grubbing missionary from Hell. In spirit and in actuality, lynching became so pervasive during Jim Crow as to make a person wonder; were we a land ruled by mobocracy? Sounds like today, rule by mob that is. Maybe, for once, the Left can generate a rabid mob. Political marketing seems to demand it. Funny bit about Edenton eschewing the RR just so Norfolk wouldn't gain financially. Or was it to protect their isolation? I will always believe BLM caused the whites to vote against Hillary to prevent Black Lives from improving. Trump would do a much better job at keeping them down. An old proverb has it that the best way to make a Russian happy is; not to give him a goat, but rather to kill his neighbor's goat. Of course, it's not just Russians. Given her lot in life, Hattie accomplished a great deal, the places she traveled to, the people she met, all so remarkable. In my public schooling I was never taught history like this. Hattie could pass for white and her son and daughter could easily be seen as white and on occasion were. What kind of person does it take to enslave their own children? Just think how awful it would be were we not Christian! I'm being sarcastic. "My country tis of thee / sweet land of hypocrisy / of thee I sing"..."Let freedom ring!", you have got to be kidding. With the "election" of Rutherford Hayes, the US Army went from the protector of the Freedman to the tool of the plantation owner. Post Civil War this nation went back to brutalizing the black man, the Red Man, the Chinese immigrants (brought here for hard labor done dirt cheap), the Mexicans, then on to the Philippines to commit some bloody atrocities, then on to Indochina to kill millions for Jesus, the Middle East, Central America seemed to garner special attention (because COMMUNISM! I suppose), etc, etc. "Let freedom ring"? Let profits be made is more like it. Back to the book, Hattie did her best to fight against the slide back to a hopeless existence. A favorite phrase found within the text, in reference to the Jim Crow laws, as "the playthings of the Supreme Court". Reminds me of the Roberts Court deciding the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was no longer needed, was no longer convenient is more like it. Since the Southern Democrat became a Republican this nation has become a place of ugly injustice. Now, with Trump at the helm, will our Ship of State find the bottom of the Sea of Iniquity? Will it rise again? In my lifetime? Now to read "Incidents", http://multiracial.com/index.php/2001...

[Asta Schmitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book. Read this book. Read this book. It's amazing and informative and well written.

[Sharon Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a second reading because I used it as background when I taught Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl to high schoolers. It is a very thorough story about Harriet’s entire life.

[Yunis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The contribution to study of the life Harriet Jacob done in this show a legitimate care to the historic figure. Yellin lifetime achievement should be a justifiable center for historians to strive accomplish. This work should be seen as a benchmark of how to legitimacy a historical figure such as Harriet Jacob.

[Riley Mras · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the book was really interesting! The story of Harriet is so beautiful and she was such a strong influential women. I did find it hard to keep going though. Some parts were a little overwhelming because of how much information and how many people were introduced at a time. I would recommend the read though!! I will definitely be reading Harriet's book as well!