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Secondary sourceBook1947

There Was Once a Slave: The Heroic Story of Frederick Douglass

Shirley Graham · 1947

A 1947 biography of Frederick Douglass written for young readers, telling the story of his life from slavery to becoming a leading reformer.

A biography written for young readers that tells the story of Douglass's life from slavery to leadership in reform.

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What it is

This book is a biography of Frederick Douglass written by Shirley Graham (later Shirley Graham Du Bois) and published in 1947. It won an award for the best book combating intolerance in America.

Why it matters

Written more than fifty years after Douglass's death, this biography shows how his life story continued to be told and valued as an example in the fight against prejudice. It reflects how later writers, like Graham, used history to teach lessons about equality.

Look closer

  • Why might a book about Douglass's life have been written specifically to combat intolerance?
  • How might a biography written decades later differ from Douglass's own writings about himself?
  • What choices might the author have made in deciding what parts of Douglass's life to tell?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Frederick Douglass on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Front page of The North Star newspaper, Rochester, N.Y., Friday, June 2, 1848, Vol. I, No. 29. Masthead reads 'The North Star' in large letters, with Frederick Douglass and N.P. Dellany named as editors. Dense columns of small printed text fill the page, with a handwritten signature in the upper right corner.Newspaper article

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My Bondage and My Freedom

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