Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine, illustrated by Kadir Nelson (Historical Fiction)

Ellen Levine's story, Henry's Freedom Box, depicts the story of Henry "Box" Brown, one of the most renown runaway slaves. The story begins with Henry with his family at their master's house. His family's master had treated them well but, when his master died, he was separated from his family and was sent to the master's son's plantation. At his new master's factory, Henry worked with tobacco leaves. One day, Henry met Nancy, a slave from another plantation, they fell in love, married each other a few months later, and had three kids. When they started their own family, Nancy began to worry they were going to be separated from each other. Unfortunately, one day soon thereafter, Henry's entire family was sold at a slave market to another slave owner. Henry became depressed by the idea of not being able to see his family ever again and decided to escape to freedom. With the help of his friend James and Dr. Smith, a white man who did not believe in slavery, Henry climbed into a box and mailed himself to an address in Pennsylvania.  He arrived on March 30th, 1849 in Philadelphia to freedom.


In my classroom, I would include Henry's Freedom Box in my unit about the Civil War, slavery, and the Underground Railroad. Also, I would have the students create a timeline of significant events that occurred during slavery and the Civil War. On the other hand, I could give the students a writing prompt of writing from the perspective of a slave during the Civil War.