Superb first-hand history of the whole range of the 19th century anti-slavery movement by one of its leading agents, Samuel Joseph May [b.1791]. His friendship with William Lloyd Garrison began in 1830, and their partnership was fruitful. May assisted in drafting the constitutions for the New-England Anti-Slavery Society, the American Anti-Slavery Society, and was one of their founders. Originally a proponent of colonization, his defense of a “mixed race” boarding school in the State Legislature changed his view, and he was from then on for immediate and unequivocal emancipation and full citizenship of the enslaved.

The work itself is notable in that May is careful to give proper credit to the many black freedmen, slaves, and workers in the underground railroad who were the true leaders of the movement, avoiding the “white savior” narrative so many of the accounts of the time unwittingly participate in.

May, Samuel J. Some Recollections of Our Antislavery Conflict. Boston. Fields, Osgood, & Co. 1869. 406pp.

Good + in original cloth, faded and rubbed, but solid. Inscription on ffep, “Ms. Sarah Bassett as a remembrance of her friend Samuel J. May. April 20, 1872.” Blank rfep lacking. Else very solid and clean.