J. D. (Jacob D.) Green

Jacob D. Green, born on August 24, 1813, was an African American writer and lecturer best known for Narrative of the Life of J.D. Green, a Runaway Slave, from Kentucky. In that book, published in 1864, he recounts his life in slavery and his repeated attempts to escape.

Green wrote that he was born in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, and his narrative describes the separation from his mother, the violence and insecurity of slavery, and the determination that pushed him toward freedom. The work is especially remembered as a firsthand slave narrative, giving readers a direct view of the cruelty of bondage and the courage it took to resist it.

Evidence from the period also shows that Green lectured publicly on American slavery in Britain in the early 1860s. Little seems to be firmly documented about the later part of his life, but his memoir has endured as an important historical testimony.