Book description
Cecelia was a fifteen-year-old slave when she accompanied her mistress,
Frances “Fanny” Thruston Ballard, on a holiday trip to Niagara Falls.
During their stay, Cecelia crossed the Niagara River and joined the free
black population of Canada. Although documented relationships between
freed or escaped slaves and their former owners are rare, the discovery
of a cache of letters from the former slave owner to her escaped slave
confirms this extraordinary link between two urban families over several
decades. Cecelia and Fanny: The Remarkable Friendship between an Escaped
Slave and Her Former Mistress is a fascinating look at race relations in
mid-nineteenth-century Louisville, Kentucky, focusing on the experiences
of these two families during the seismic social upheaval wrought by the
emancipation of four million African Americans. Far more than the story
of two families, Cecelia and Fanny delves into the history of Civil
War-era Louisville. Author Brad Asher details the cultural roles
assigned to the two women and provides a unique view of slavery in an
urban context, as opposed to the rural plantations more often examined
by historians. Brad Asher is the author of Beyond the Reservation:
Indians, Settlers, and the Law in Washington Territory, 1853-1889. He
lives in Louisville, Kentucky.
