author
William Craft
d. 1900
Best known for a daring escape from slavery with his wife Ellen, this American abolitionist helped turn a personal act of courage into a powerful public story. Their 1860 narrative, Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom, remains one of the most memorable firsthand accounts of escape and resistance.
1 Audiobook
Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom Or, The Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery
by William Craft, Ellen Craft
About the author
Born into slavery in Macon, Georgia, in 1824, William Craft trained as a cabinetmaker before making a carefully planned escape with his wife Ellen in December 1848. Their journey became famous because Ellen, who could pass as white, traveled in disguise while William posed as her enslaved servant, allowing them to move openly by train and steamer to freedom.
After reaching the North, the Crafts became active abolitionists and spoke publicly about slavery. Pressure from slave catchers after the Fugitive Slave Act pushed them to Britain, where they lived for many years and published Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom in 1860, a vivid account of their escape.
William Craft later returned to the United States and spent part of his later life in Georgia, where he worked on education and community projects for formerly enslaved people. He died on January 29, 1900, and is remembered not only for his remarkable escape, but also for helping preserve that story in print.