Educated for Freedom: The Incredible Story of Two Fugitive Schoolboys Who Grew Up to Change a Nation

Duane’s important new study began in the archives where she was captivated with the records of the New York African Free Schools. That research led her to James McCune Smith and Henry Highland Garnet—two of the most influential Black leaders of the antebellum period, who were also among the schools’ most prominent alumna. Although studies of McCune Smith’s and Garnet’s lives exist, they have not been placed into dialogue with one another as Duane does in this book. Duane illuminates the meaning and significance of Black childhood to these men, both real and imagined, in their adult lives. The meaning of freedom, citizenship, and the role of education, as inextricably linked to Black childhood, fundamentally shaped McCune Smith’s and Garnet’s politics, testifying to the centrality of Black children in the fight for Black liberation. The strength of the book lies in Duane’s study of the Black leaders’ lives through the...