Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of America's Fugitive Slaves - Hardcover

a serious, well-researched book (Times, Gerard DeGroot)

A terrific and powerful story. (New York Post)

There's suspense and drama on nearly every page.... It's the art of historical narrative at its very best with individual heroes caught up in the larger sweep of social movements. (Huffington Post, Jonah Raskin)

Makes palpable the nuances and complexities of the past.... Intellectually probing and emotionally resonant, "Gateway to Freedom" reminds us that history can be as stirring as the most gripping fiction. (Los Angeles Times, Wendy Smith)

Gripping ... excellent.... He merits high praise for contributing solid information and thoughtful analysis to the history of this shadowy, extensive network. (Wall Street Journal, David S. Reynolds)

A consummate narrative ... Mandatory and riveting reading.... In 1855, an abolitionist newspaper predicted that 'these acts of sublime heroism ... will excite the admiration, the reverence and the indignation of generations yet to come.' This book finally redeems that faith. (New York Times, Sam Roberts)

Illuminating ... Superb ... an invaluable addition to our history. (New York Times Book Review, Kevin Baker)

When slavery was a routine part of life in America's South, a secret network of activists and escape routes enabled slaves to make their way to freedom in what is now Canada. The 'underground railroad' has become part of folklore, but one part of the story is only now coming to light. In New York, a city whose banks, business and politics were deeply enmeshed in the slave economy, three men played a remarkable part, at huge personal risk.

In Gateway to Freedom, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Eric Foner tells the story of Sydney Howard Gay, an abolitionist newspaper editor; Louis Napoleon, furniture polisher; and Charles B. Ray, a black minister. Between 1830 and 1860, with the secret help of black dockworkers, the network led by these three men helped no fewer than 3,000 fugitives to liberty. The previously unexamined records compiled by Gay offer a portrait of fugitive slaves who passed through New York City ― where they originated, how they escaped, who helped them in both North and South, and how they were forwarded to freedom in Canada.