"From the segregated Stratton High School in Beckley, West Virginia, to the prestigious Howard University in Washington, DC, to years of law enforcement in our nation's capital, Bill Ritchie has found himself a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. We have often asked, how? And why? Throughout his book A Black Man's Journey to the Sons of the American Revolution, he answers these questions for us." -Belva Williams Waller, matriarch of the Ritchie Family. "Bill Ritchie's fascinating journey from rural mountains in West Virginia to celebrated track all-American at Howard University, to chief of detectives in the nation's capital and his many other successful pursuits is an inspiring study of determination, creativity, and perseverance. His book, A Black Man's Journey to the Sons of the American Revolution, candidly provides a fleet-footed but comprehensive look at a renaissance man still blazing new and interesting paths." -Rock Newman, sports and music entrepreneur, executive producer, and host of The Rock Newman Show, former Howard University Trustee. "You have a fascinating history! Can't wait to read the book." -Sari Horwitz, author and reporter, recipient of four Pulitzer Prize awards By William O. Ritchie Jr

“From the segregated Stratton High School in Beckley, West Virginia, to the prestigious Howard University in Washington, DC, to years of law enforcement in our nation’s capital, Bill Ritchie has found himself a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. We have often asked, how? And why? Throughout his book A Black Man’s Journey to the Sons of the American Revolution, he answers these questions for us.” —Belva Williams Waller, matriarch of the Ritchie Family. “Bill Ritchie’s fascinating journey from rural mountains in West Virginia to celebrated track all-American at Howard University, to chief of detectives in the nation’s capital and his many other successful pursuits is an inspiring study of determination, creativity, and perseverance. His book, A Black Man’s Journey to the Sons of the American Revolution, candidly provides a fleet-footed but comprehensive look at a renaissance man still blazing new and interesting paths.” —Rock Newman, sports and music entrepreneur, executive producer, and host of The Rock Newman Show, former Howard University Trustee. “You have a fascinating history! Can’t wait to read the book.” —Sari Horwitz, author and reporter, recipient of four Pulitzer Prize awards By William O. Ritchie Jr

Son of a man born enslaved in 1863 during the Civil War, Daniel Smith was living proof that slavery is not distant history. His father, 70 years old when Dan was born, taught him to work hard and carry himself well, even in difficult circumstances. In his educational, professional, and social pursuits, Dan lived those lessons. He was both witness to and participant in nearly a century of struggle for Black Americans to advance in a nation founded on separatist principles. For the intersections he had with historical events, political leaders, and other luminaries, he is often called the "Black Forrest Gump." In this memoir, completed just before he died on Oct. 19, 2022 at age 90, Smith offers a first-hand account of the actions, policies, and people that have helped or hindered the United States from fulfilling the promise that "all men are created equal."

Winch has written the first full-length biography of James Forten, a hero of African American history and one of the most remarkable men in 19th-century America. Born into a free black family in 1766, Forten served in the Revolutionary War as a teenager. By 1810 he had earned the distinction of being the leading sailmaker in Philadelphia. Soon after Forten emerged as a leader in Philadelphia's black community and was active in a wide range of reform activities. Especially prominent in national and international antislavery movements, he served as vice-president of the American Anti-Slavery Society and became close friends with William Lloyd Garrison to whom he lent money to start up the Liberator. His family were all active abolitionists and a granddaughter, Charlotte Forten, published a famous diary of her experiences teaching ex-slaves in South Carolina's Sea Islands during the Civil War. This is the first serious biography of Forten, who stands beside Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, and Martin Luther King, Jr., in the pantheon of African Americans who fundamentally shaped American history.

Cassandra Pybus adds greatly to the work of [previous] scholars by insisting that slaves stand at the center of their own history . . . Her 'biographies' of flight expose the dangers that escape entailed and the courage it took to risk all for freedom. Only by measuring those dangers can the exhilaration of success be comprehended and the unspeakable misery of failure be appreciated.--Ira Berlin, from the Foreword During the American Revolution, thousands of slaves fled their masters to find freedom with the British. Epic Journeys of Freedom is the astounding story of these runaways and the lives they made on four continents. Having emancipated themselves, with the rhetoric about the inalienable rights of free men ringing in their ears, these men and women struggled tenaciously to make liberty a reality in their own lives. This alternative narrative of freedom fought for and won is uniquely compelling; historian Cassandra Pybus's groundbreaking research has uncovered individual stories of runaways who left America to forge difficult new lives in far-flung corners of the British Empire. Harry, for example, one of George Washington's slaves, escaped from Mount Vernon in 1776, was evacuated to Nova Scotia in 1783, and eventually relocated to Sierra Leone in West Africa with his wife and three children. Ralph Henry, who ran away from the Virginia firebrand Patrick Henry in 1776, took a similar path to precarious freedom in Sierra Leone, while others, such as John Moseley and John Randall, were evacuated with the British forces to England. Stranded in England without skills or patronage during a period of high unemployment, they were among thousands of newly freed poor blacks who struggled just to survive. While some were relocated to Sierra Leone, others, like Moseley and Randall, found themselves transported to the distant penal colony of Botany Bay, in Australia. Epic Journeys of Freedom, written in the best tradition of history from the bottom up, is a fascinating insight into the meaning of liberty; it will change forever the way we think about the American Revolution.

Bestselling author Lauren Tarshis tackles the American Revolution in this latest installment of the groundbreaking, New York Times bestselling I Survived series. Bestselling author Lauren Tarshis tackles the American Revolution in this latest installment of the groundbreaking, New York Times bestselling I Survived series. British soldiers were everywhere. There was no escape. Nathaniel Fox never imagined he'd find himself in the middle of a blood-soaked battlefield, fighting for his life. He was only eleven years old! He'd barely paid attention to the troubles between America and England. How could he, while being worked to the bone by his cruel uncle, Uriah Storch? But when his uncle's rage forces him to flee the only home he knows, Nate is suddenly propelled toward a thrilling and dangerous journey into the heart of the Revolutionary War. He finds himself in New York City on the brink of what will be the biggest battle yet.