Portrait of Harriet Jacobs from Jean Fagan Yellin - Documenting the American South.
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In 1860 Harriet Jacobs published Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, a personal tale depicting her life in slavery and escape North to freedom. Her story, one of very few surviving slave narratives, has served as a glimpse of womanhood in slave society, paying particular attention to Dr. Norcom’s sexual harassment and advances towards Jacobs. Jacobs’ life and book is a unique look at the mid 19th century American South, and what it meant to pursue freedom as a woman held in bondage. One of the most unique aspects of Jacobs’ story is her experience as a free woman in the North. Despite her newfound citizenship, Jacobs noted how racism was as much the same in the North as it was in the South. No matter where she escaped to, Jacobs realized she would always be considered a second-class citizen.
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