Gateway to Freedom The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad

Author of The Fiery Trial, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in History, the Bancroft Prize, and the Lincoln PrizeIn 1835, the New York Vigilance Committee was organized by free blacks working with white abolitionists to protect blacks from kidnappers and slave catchers on the streets. Soon such committees proliferated in the North, and began a collaboration known as the underground railroad. Until now, their stories have remained largely unknown. Building on fresh evidence, Eric Foner elevates the underground railroad from folklore to history.