Caroline Quarlls and the Underground Railroad

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Julia Pferdehirt

The tension-filled story of a young freedom-seeker escaping enslavement in pursuit of liberty and a better life.

120 pages, 7 x 9, 42 b&w photos, 6 maps
Paperback: $12.95 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-388-6
Ebook: $9.99 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-521-7
Publication Date: 3/11/2008

Reading Level: Ages 8–14, Grades 3–8

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Front cover of Caroline Quarlls and the Underground Railroad

Description

On July 4, 1842, Caroline Quarlls left family, friends, and the only life she’d known behind in St. Louis, Missouri—a life of enslavement and no personal freedom. The child of an enslaved mother and a slave-owner father, she risked everything in order to escape bondage, sneaking onto a steamboat across the Mississippi River from St. Louis to Alton, Illinois, in the hope of reaching freedom. Her dramatic story is one of resilience, and determination.

With the help of anti-slavery abolitionists, the sixteen-year-old Quarlls traveled through Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan on the Underground Railroad, enduring long, difficult rides in the bottom of a wagon and taking cover anywhere she could. Every step of the way, she was pursued by lawyers and bounty hunters paid to bring her back to a life of enslavement. Finally, she crossed from Detroit into Sandwich, Canada, where she built a life as a free woman, an exciting but also frightening experience. Quarlls’s story gives young readers a personal snapshot of the terrifying journey of a runaway slave while illuminating a dark and complicated period in our nation’s history.

Author Bio

Julia Pferdehirt

Julia Pferdehirt is an author, educator, and professional storyteller. She has also written They Came to Wisconsin and Freedom Train North for young readers, both published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press. Pferdehirt resides in Madison, Wisconsin.