author
Lucy A. (Lucy Ann) Delaney
1828–1910
Born into slavery in St. Louis, she won her freedom as a teenager and later turned her life story into one of the rare published memoirs by a formerly enslaved woman. Her writing offers a direct, personal view of family separation, resistance, and the long fight for freedom.
1 Audiobook
From the Darkness Cometh the Light, or Struggles for Freedom
by Lucy A. (Lucy Ann) Delaney
About the author
Lucy A. Delaney, also known as Lucy Ann Berry Delaney, was born in St. Louis around 1828. She was the daughter of Polly Berry, a woman who fought in court for her own freedom and for her children's. Lucy won her own freedom in 1844 while still very young, after a legal battle that grew out of Missouri's freedom-suit system.
Afterward, she worked as a seamstress and became active in her community in St. Louis. She was known for her involvement in church and charitable work, and later wrote about her experiences with unusual clarity and warmth.
Her 1891 memoir, From the Darkness Cometh the Light, or Struggles for Freedom, is the work she is best remembered for today. In it, she recounts the trauma of enslavement and family separation, but also the courage, persistence, and hope that shaped her life.