author
William Wells Brown
d. 1884
Born into slavery and self-emancipated as a young man, this pioneering American writer turned lived experience into powerful books, lectures, and reform work. He is often remembered as the first African American to publish a novel, and as an early Black playwright and historian as well.
13 Audiobooks
The Escape; Or, A Leap For Freedom: A Drama, in Five Acts
by William Wells Brown
Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave
by William Wells Brown
Clotel; Or, The President's Daughter
by William Wells Brown
Clotelle; Or, The Colored Heroine, a tale of the Southern States; Or, The President's Daughter
by William Wells Brown
Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave. Second Edition
by William Wells Brown
The Negro in the American Rebellion: His Heroism and His Fidelity
by William Wells Brown
The Rising Son; or, the Antecedents and Advancement of the Colored Race
by William Wells Brown
Clotelle: A Tale of the Southern States
by William Wells Brown
Three Years in Europe: Places I Have Seen and People I Have Met
by William Wells Brown
The Black Man: His Antecedents, His Genius, and His Achievements
by William Wells Brown
Illustrated Edition of the Life and Escape of Wm. Wells Brown from American Slavery Written by Himself
by William Wells Brown
My Southern Home: Or, the South and Its People
by William Wells Brown
The Anti-slavery Harp: A Collection of Songs for Anti-slavery Meetings
by William Wells Brown
About the author
Born in Kentucky in 1814, William Wells Brown escaped from slavery in 1834 and went on to become a major voice in the fight against slavery. He first became widely known through his 1847 memoir Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave, Written by Himself, which helped establish him as an important abolitionist lecturer and writer.
Brown built an extraordinary literary career across several genres. Reliable reference sources credit him as the first African American to publish a novel, a play, and a travel book. His best-known novel, Clotel; or, The President's Daughter (1853), is now seen as a landmark in American and African American literature.
He spent years speaking in the United States and abroad, and after the Civil War he continued writing history, biography, and social commentary. Brown died on November 6, 1884, in Chelsea, Massachusetts, leaving behind a body of work that helped shape both Black literary history and the long struggle for freedom and equality.