About the Author

Born into slavery, Frederick Douglass (c. 1818-1895) educated himself, escaped, and made himself one of the greatest leaders in American history.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., editor,is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, cultural critic, and institution builder, Gates has authored or coauthored twenty-one books and created fifteen documentary films.