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02.06.09 Gara, Larry, The Liberty Line: The Legend of the Underground Railroad, published in 1961.

Notes Concerning the Author

Larry Gara, born in 1923, of the northern states, was a history professor, spending the last 30 years of his career at Wilmington College of Ohio, retiring in 1992.  The Liberty Line was published the year prior to his arrival at Wilmington College and constitutes one of his most well known works.  

Review

The Underground Railroad has been massively publicized in our times in school curriculum and historical sites.  Some surveys indicate that American schoolchildren, “know” more about this than many of the major events of American history.  Gara has researched this topic thoroughly and found that the Underground Railroad is largely mythical and made up of after-the-fact statements.  The African American leader Frederick Douglass called it “the Upperground Railroad,” suggesting it was more publicity than reality.

The title is well chosen, for so much of the so-called history is “Legend.”

Availability of this Book

A paperback reprint can be easily obtained.  We suggest Amazon.

CNW