History

p A Runaway Slave on the Underground Railroad June 4 , 1853

Charleston , South Carolina

Dear Aunt Betsey

The heat here is terrible . Sticky , thick heat that sticks to your skin and clothes and makes it hard to breathe . The mosquitoes only make it worse . They don 't even wait for nightfall to come out anymore , but buzz around all day and torment us out in the cotton fields . I 've got welts from their bites all up and down my arms and legs , and I 'm afraid it won 't be

long before there 's a yellow fever epidemic . As you know it 'll be the babies that go first if that happens , poor little things Clara just had her fourth last month , and Ether had her third just this week . There 's no rest for them , though . No , they had to be up and in those fields again the very next day after giving birth , carrying their little babies with them

You know we have to work from dawn to dusk , with only a short break to eat in the middle of the day . The overseers are always watching us always so quick to strike out at us with the whip if they think we 're slacking off or not working hard enough or fast enough . We get so hot and tired and thirsty in those cotton fields , but there 's little in the way of relief except for a barrel of water with a ladle we all get to share from . I wish I was one of the house slaves , then I could be out of this heat and sun beating down on my back . The house slaves are treated a lot better than we are . They get to raise the white children and cook the meals and do the laundry , and become almost a part of the family . Oh , those white children love their black nannies ! But I guess I 'm not smart enough or pretty enough to be kept in the house

I 've got another baby on the way , my second . I hope this one lives I 've determined to get out of here . I can 't go on like this . I hear there are people who will help . You 're lucky , Aunt , that you had a kind master who gave you your freedom , and that you found a good man to marry and take you up North where you can be free . If I find a way out of here , can I stay with you until I find work and a place to live

I 've got to go now and take this letter to the house slave from the farm next door who will mail this for me . I can 't let anyone see me go , and I can 't let anyone know I can read and write a letter . That 's illegal here , did you know . Slaves aren 't supposed to be educated So , I 've got to sneak over there in cover...