# Harriet Jacobs

## Biography

Harriet Ann Jacobs was an African-American abolitionist and writer born into slavery in Edenton, North Carolina, in 1813. Despite the hardships of her early life, she learned to read and write. Jacobs is best known for her powerful autobiography, *Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself*, published in 1861 under the pseudonym Linda Brent. This seminal work shed light on the unique suffering of enslaved women, including the rampant sexual harassment and abuse they endured. To escape her enslaver and protect her children, Jacobs famously spent seven years hidden in a tiny crawl space in her grandmother's attic. After her daring escape to the North in 1842, she became an active participant in abolitionist and women's rights movements. She dedicated the latter part of her life to relief work among Black Civil War refugees, establishing schools and providing aid. Jacobs passed away in Washington, D.C., in 1897, leaving behind a crucial literary legacy that remains an American classic.

## Books

- [Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself](https://samolit.com/books/96091)