Ilyon Woo on the Self-Emancipation of Ellen and William Craft

The Book Case

ABC News

Fiction, Arts, Books, Society & Culture

4.1 • 766 Ratings

🗓️ 8 February 2024

⏱️ 40 minutes

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Summary

Have you ever heard of William and Ellen Craft? They were an escaped enslaved husband and wife whose stories read like a blockbuster action movies. Symbols in their time, Ellen (who was the daughter of an enslaved woman and her master) passed as a white man and had her husband William pass as her property. A harrowing journey gave way to their leadership in the fugitive slave movement, even though it cost them dearly. Ilyon Woo shares their incredible story in her book, Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom. A great read and a great conversation about American heroes of whom you might never have heard. This week we also talk to Island books in Middletown Rhode Island. Join us. Books mentioned in this week's episode: Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo The Great Divorce: A Nineteenth-Century Mother's Extraordinary Fight Against Her Husband, the Shakers, and Her Times by Ilyon Woo William Wells Brown: An African American Life by Ezra Greenspan All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Alicia Miles Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar Soul by Soul: Life Inside the Antebellum Slave Market by Walter Johnson The Slave's Cause by Manisha Sinha Wolf at the Table by Adam Rapp Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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0:23.6	Adobe Express, the quick and easy create anything app. Hello, book nerds.
0:44.0	It's another week, another episode of the bookcase.
0:46.7	I am one of your hosts, and my name is Kate Gibson.
0:49.9	And I'm the second host.
0:51.6	In more ways than one, I'm her father, Charlie Gibson.
0:55.8	I have a quiz for all of you who may be listening.
0:59.1	Hold up your hands wherever you are in the car.
1:01.4	Well, in the car, don't let go to the wheel.
1:03.5	Don't hold up your hands if you're in the car.
1:05.4	If you're holding your baby, don't do that either.
1:07.8	Yeah, well, you've got a free hand then. Anyway, hold up your hand if you've ever heard of Ellen Craft and William Craft, do you
1:16.9	know who they are?
1:19.1	I hear silence out there.
1:22.5	William and Ellen Craft are a fascinating story who are described, their story described in wonderful detail,
1:31.7	in a book by the name of master, slave, husband, wife. The author is Ileon Wu. This book has been
1:39.2	out for some time. It is about to come out in paperback, and it was, I think, deservedly so on many, many of the top
1:48.0	10 books of 2023 when it came out. And as I say, about to be in paperback and very, very much worth
	...

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