Hamilton has written two other biographical works, both about prominent black men, though neither of her two previous subjects—Paul Robeson and W. E. B. Dubois—was a slave. The heritage of the slave experience persists in many of her novels.

The House of Dies Drear and its sequel, The Mystery of Drear House, are set in a house that had been a station on the Underground Railroad. M. C. Higgins, the Great revolves around an adolescent boy whose house is threatened by a strip-mine slag heap. His family is reluctant to leave its land, although it is unsafe, because the mountain was originally settled by M.C.'s greatgrandmother, Sarah, an escaped slave.

Hamilton is also renowned for her collections of black folktales. In addition to her award-winning The People Could Fly, she has published two other books of tales, The Time-Ago Tales...