"My Name Is Not Tom": The Life of the Reverend Josiah Henson

Summary

The first biography to rescue the true story of Josiah Henson, restoring to history his role in the Underground Railroad

Josiah Henson led a fascinating life―from the plantation fields of Maryland to the Georgetown Market to the plantations of Kentucky to escaping to freedom in Canada to being introduced to the Queen in England. Born enslaved, Henson eventually escaped and became a respected minister and famed secular leader.

"My Name Is Not Tom" is a biography of Josiah Henson, the man catapulted into fame after Harriet Beecher Stowe noted that certain events in his life partially influenced the development of her fictional character Uncle Tom. While previous biographies have relied heavily on Henson's four autobiographies, which replicated the myth that he was the sole inspiration for Stowe's character, "My Name Is Not Tom" uses new primary source research to fill in the untold parts of his extraordinary life and examine his views of slavery and morality, which changed substantially over the course of his life.