Lost for 150 years, Reed’s prison memoir is the oldest written by an African American. His story is a reminder of how deep the roots of racial injustice run—in the North and South.
’Twas a beautiful fourth of July’s morning that the golden rays of the sun came a shooting through our iron grated windows, that I sat at the table in deep and melancholy thoughts and reflections, that the weight of a big heavy hickory cane came plump across my knuckles, for...
