The Railroad to Freedom: A Story of the Civil War

by Hildegarde Hoyt Swift, James Daugherty (Illustrator)

The biography of Harriet Tubman, the Negro woman who led many slaves to freedom on the Underground Railway

Genres: Historical Fiction, Childrens, Civil War, Juvenile

364 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1932

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oof, I was literally reading this for months. Finally, I had to just skim through the last 50 pages or so because I couldn't read it one day more.

I've been putting off my Newbery Quest for quite some time, so I decided I'd at least finish this one. It wasn't awful, but it highlights why I hate historical fiction, especially about real people. I had absolutely no idea what was true and what wasn't. There was one fairly significant event with a spy during the Civil War and I tried to look up online if there was any truth to it and I couldn't find anything. (If there are any history scholars out there that know, please let me know.)

Based on the fact that I couldn't find any reference to this event, I'm guessing it was made up for dramatic effect and that just bugs me. I don't want "made-up" stories, I want someone who studies this stuff, who has read all the primary sources, to sum it up for me. I want nonfiction.

I also had a really hard time with the language. The author wrote in an "accent" and I have the worst time reading those. It's not enjoyable for me at all.

I think the author had good intentions trying to help kids get to know this awesome lady, Harriet Tubman, but I'm just not a fan of historical fiction. (Especially with "accent" writing.)

This book won the Newbery Honor in 1933.

[Wayne Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the story opens, it is the spring of 1831, and ten year old Araminta Harriet Ross, usually known as “Minty,” lives with her mother also named Harriet but called Old Rit, her father Old Ben, and her fourteen year old brother Benjie. They are slaves on the Broadacres plantation of Henry Carter in Maryland. Old Marse Henry is kind, and the slaves like him. But his son, young Marse George, is taking more responsibility, and he is cruel. A few years later he forces her to marry John Tubman, but she eventually runs away and escapes to freedom in the North. Wanting to assist her people, she becomes a conductor on the “Underground Railroad” and, known as “Moses,” leads many other slaves to freedom. She even returns to Broadacres and helps her brother, his wife Lily, and their baby to escape. For that, George Carter places a reward of up to $40,000 on her head.

Yet she braves the danger to go back and fetch her parents. Will they make it to safety? Or will they be caught and returned to slavery? And what will happen to them when war breaks out? Today, Harriet Tubman is a heroine, and her story is told in nearly every American history book. But back in 1932, her exploits were not well known, so Hildegard Swift wrote this book, which received a Newbery Honor Award in 1933, as a fictionalized account of Harriet Tubman’s life from her childhood through the beginning of Civil War. Swift said, “This is a story, not a biography, but it is based on authentic history.” One reviewer complained, “I was very disappointed to find that some of the major turning points in her early life were altered with no apparent reason, and other well-known parts of her life were omitted entirely.” Well, do you want a book that reads like a dry and dusty encyclopedia (and is about as long) or a story that kids will find interesting and want to read? Another reviewer noted, “One can’t, however, doubt Swift’s scholarship. Although the dialogue is invented and several incidents spruced up for dramatic purposes, Swift completed a remarkable amount of research for her time.”

I was a little amazed at the language for a children’s book. The “d” and “h” words are occasionally found in dialogue, and terms like “Lawd” and “Gawd” frequently appear as interjections. Also there are references to using “baccy” (tobacco) and drinking alcohol. Several reviewers noted that the readers might be slowed down due to the conversations in an “authentic” Negro slave dialect. And some “racial language” is used. Swift explained, “The words ‘pickaninny’—‘nigger’—‘kinky’—‘darky’ and all similar words are nowhere used in this book as expressive of the viewpoint of the author. They are simply used for the purposes of realism, where they would have been used by the different kinds of people whom this book concerns.” Yes, the book is fictionalized, but it emphasizes many important phases and events in Harriet Tubman’s life and does a decent job of depicting the dangers of life for slaves and those who dared to run from slavery in pre-Civil War America. I agree with the reviewer who wrote, “Swift communicates the bravery and hope expressed by the desperate blacks seeking freedom. What comes across even more clearly is the courage of the whites who risked their all to assist the blacks en route to freedom.” The book contains acknowledgements and a full bibliography.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. 1930s very fictionalized biography of Harriet Tubman with all the issues you might expect. The author does attempt to present an impartial account of Moses, but I kept running up against that period's prevailing opinion of black people, or to use Swift's own term "coloreds". Probably half of the book is devoted to Harriet's life as a slave on a cotton plantation in MD and then her own escape to the north. Born to the house cook, Old Rit, Harriet seemed destined also to be a house slave, but her loan to the master's relatives almost caused her death, and although she liked her master and his wife, she preferred the fields to the house. The author seems to have manufactured much of Tubman's early life since a quick check of her biography names wholly different owners. It makes me distrust much of the books details. The latter half tells of Tubman's several journeys on the "railroad" to rescue family, her association with various abolitionists, and her work during the Civil War. I read this for my 2018 Reading Challenge and my Newbery Challenge (Honor Book 1933).

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author's introduction really excited me, as she grew up in the town where Tubman lived after her escape, recognized what a treasure she was, and talked to close relatives of the primary figures in the book. As one of the first books about Harriet Tubman, this is an important work. But, oh, has it been done better since this.

This is not a biography, but a fictionalized account. It is unclear what is factual and what is fiction here, but the main problem I had was with the narrative voice. So many words. So flowery and ponderous in tone. Occasionally, this stepped in to condescending in a noble savage way. For example, one paragraph expounded on the African, and how only they were able to stand the hot sun and to endure the conditions of slavery without becoming embittered. A quarter of the way through, I was wanting to give up and just read a regular biography instead.

[Tricia Douglas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Newbery Award book for 1933 read for the Goodreads Newbery group. The story was well done describing in length Harriet Tubman's life, family, beginnings of the Underground Railroad and her part in the Civil War. What slowed the reader down was the narratives in an "authentic" Negro dialect. Topic-wise back in 1933 children might have been curious about the Black culture and life of the famous Harriet Tubman. Today we have so many more "colorful" and informative books about her, I doubt this one would be chosen very frequently. I am glad that I can check this Newbery off on my list as being read!

[Archy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing on the Newberry Quest, next up was Railroad to Freedom. This is a fictionalized account of Harriet Tubman's life. It focuses on her childhood through the beginning of Civil War. Be forewarned that there is a lot of dialect and a lot of racial language. The author includes an explanation of why she included the racial slurs at the end. Harriet Tubman was a fascinating and strong person. Compared to many 1930's children books, this is a "page turner". Tubman is portrayed with such admiration it kept me reading.

[Thomas Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that this was a really good book. Yes, it is fictionalized, but it emphasizes many important phases and events in Harriet Tubman's life.

Yes, most children today would have difficulty reading this book, but if you try to pronounce the words with an old southern slave accent then it's not so bad and you can then understand what they're saying. :-)

Anyway, this was on the border between 3 and 4 stars for me, but since I think it is a book most people could learn from I'll give it a 4.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

1933 Newbery Honor. First time I've read an account of Harriet Tubman's life. The author does make a note that it does not stick strictly to the facts but it seems to me she did a decent job of depicting the dangers of life for slaves and those who dared to run from slavery in pre-Civil War America.

[Jo-Ann Leake · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book many years ago at a used book sale. It is written for young readers, yet has enough detail to give the context that slavery was a deeply inhumane and cruel system, certainly for slaves. It also destroyed the humanity of those who owned slaves. I am clearer on why the "original sin" of slavery is very difficult to repent of and work thorugh.

[Brian A · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t read much middle-grade nonfiction, but I can’t imagine a fictionalized biography of someone like Harriet Tubman would fly today. It’s not clear which parts were made up, which undermines the power of the stuff she actually did do. At that point, why are you even writing about Harriet Tubman?

Well, okay - apparently Tubman wasn’t as well known at the time, and there wasn’t anything aimed towards younger readers about her. The line seems to be that making a better story would make people more interested in digging into the true stuff. The problem is that the story isn’t very good, either. It has a weird pacing to it - it does try to hit highlights of her life, so it’ll jump years at a time after her escape from slavery, all without building on clear narrative arcs or themes or anything like that. What it does seem to land on as the major storyline that runs through her life is her relationship with “Marse George,” her (fictional) abusive old owner. She kills a Confederate spy who happens to be him late in the book (her reaction to this is baffling), and the closing pages are her return to her old plantation to tell Miss Annie about his death. It just doesn’t work.

And of course, there are the other things that don’t age well in a book about slavery from this era. All the black people’s dialogue is written in thick dialect. Did Harriet Tubman actually sound like a character in a minstrel show? Who knows. And for all the reviews of this book that talk about how it illustrates how terrible slavery is, it actually felt to me like it romanticized it. It definitely was forgiving of a lot of slaveowners, and painted the harsh plantation owners like Marse George as the exceptions. I was a bit surprised to find out that this preceded Gone with the Wind, the end scene felt a lot like some of the post-war scenes when they get back to a hollowed-out Tara.

I can’t recommend this book to anyone except Newbery completists and those with a specific interest in literature on the subject. I would actively advise young readers to avoid it.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The dialect. The grief and pride(!?) at the death of her old master. The sadness when going back to her old plantation after the War to find it empty and abandoned. So much is wrong with this book.

[Desiree']

1933 Newbery honor book

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harriet lives with her parents and brother, Benjamin. The old master is kind, but one day when he is away, his son, George, gives Harriet away to his cousin Susan. Harriet has to take care of Susan's baby. When her only friend, Emily, leaves, Harriet tries to run away, but her brother finds her and brings her back to Broadacres. She gets hit in the head with a stone when she defends a friend, and that becomes a turning point where she wants to help people escape slavery. Master Carter says he is going to free Harriet's family, but he dies, and George refuses to give them their freedom.

Harriet escapes and is helped by many people along the way, including Quakers. Harriet starts working for Emily in Philadelphia, and she goes back to free Benjamin and his family. The people along the way help them again. Harriet lives with Dr. Parker and his family in Boston, and the fugitive slave law is passed. Harriet goes to free many slaves on the underground railroad, and people donate money to help her.

When Harriet is trying to help her parents, her father unwittingly tells someone he shouldn't about where they are going, so they have to change their plans and go to Auburn, where the Sewards live. Mrs. Seward helps them by letting them stay in an empty house for a few days. They finally make it to Canada, but Harriet's parents don't like living in Canada, so they wind up living in Auburn in the Seward's empty house.

The Civil War starts, and Harriet helps the Union as a nurse and in other ways. She accidentally shoots George, who was working as a spy for the Confederacy, and he dies. The 54th Massachusetts dies in battle. The war ends.

I thought this book was a page-turner. I enjoyed reading the story of how brave Harriet Tubman was in an effort to free slaves on the underground railroad, and how people in the north helped.

[Heather]

for my review of this book see my blog www.newberyquest.blogspot.com

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this as a child but I do remember being disappointed initially that there were no trains in it.

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story of Harriet Tubman.

[Suzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harriet Tubman was an amazing woman.