William Wells Brown Summary

Born a slave, William Wells Brown (1815-1884) escaped to freedom and became the first African American to publish a novel or a play. He was also an abolitionist and an internationally acclaimed lectur... Read more

In a letter dated 2 July 1847, Edmund Quincy, a prominent Boston abolitionist, described the thirty-three-year-old William Wells Brown as "an extraordinary fellow. I do not know that his intellectua... Read more

Born a slave and lacking any formal education, William Wells Brown occupies a central and remarkably versatile role in the formation of the African American literary tradition. The author of the first... Read more

In the following introduction, Gara presents an overview of Brown's life and explains that many elements of his philosophy can be found in modern Black Nationalism. “It is a terrible ... Read more

In the following essay, Farrison looks at an anonymous play, The Kidnapped Clergyman, as a possible source for Brown's lesser known play, Experience. In 1839 an anonymous antislavery drama e... Read more

In the following essay, Jefferson contextualizes Brown's literary accomplishments by providing background information on his life. I William Wells Brown, the black nineteenth-century man of ... Read more

In the following essay, Mulvey explicates Brown's interest in the paradox of the European “discovery” of America. Columbia is the poetical name for America, and the Columbiad i... Read more