Narrative of the Sufferings of Lewis Clarke, During a Captivity of More Than Twenty-Five Years, Among the Algerines of Kentucky, One of the So Called Christian States of North America

The original edition of this narrative was published in April 1845 (before Frederick Douglass's more famous memoir was published later that same year), making it the first book ever copyrighted by an ex-slave. Born into slavery in the American South, Lewis George Clarke (1815-1897) was the son of a white man from Scotland who married Letitia Campbell, the mixed-race daughter of a slave master and a slave. Clarke was famous for being the man whose early life story was the basis for the character George Harris in Harriet Beecher-Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. After his escape from slavery, Clarke became an abolitionist and spoke publicly about his experiences throughout his life. Clarke dictated his life story to Joseph C. Lovejoy, an abolitionist minister in Cambridge, Mass., in order to correct some of Beecher-Stowe's misleading information about his life. An extensive introduction by Carver Clark Gayton (great-grandson of Lewis George Clarke) gives background on the Campbell and Clarke families, the circumstances surrounding Clarke's enslavement and escape, and the Harriet Beecher-Stowe connection. A list of primary sources for further reading is provided. Gayton is director of the Northwest African American Museum in Seattle. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Carver Clark Gayton , who has served as director of Affirmative Action Programs at the University of Washington; corporate director of educational relations and training for the Boeing Company; lecturer at the Evans School of Public Administration, University of Washington; and executive director of the Northwest African American Museum. He lives in Seattle.