Horace King: Bridges to Freedom

by Faye Gibbons

Book Overview

Features the story of Horace King, for ages 9-12. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1575871998
• ISBN13: 9781575871998
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Crane Hill Publishers
• Length: 111 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.1" x 9.2"
• Age Range: 9 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 4 and higher

Customer Reviews

A well written young adult biography of a fascinating man

This young adult offering tells the story of Horace King, who was born into slavery in 1807 in South Carolina. His story is quite unique, as King had some educational opportunities early in his life. This was rare in those times as it was illegal to teach blacks how to read in most of the slave states. Early in adulthood, King shows great intellectual promise. It is during his time in Alabama with a master named John Godwin that he gets the incredible opportunity to study at Oberlin College in Ohio. This is one of the more remarkable aspects of the story of these two men as it would have been all too easy for King to simply run away. Godwin obviously treated him quite well, and King had ambitions that were more of a long-term nature. After his education, King returns to the south. He becomes a master bridge builder and forms a partnership with Godwin. The two men make a lot of money, as Godwin has the means to pay to develop new communities and King has the ability to build stone bridges, many of which were technical marvels for their time, to connect parts of the countryside that had previously been impossible to reach. Eventually, King amasses a large enough fortune to buy his freedom, and when Godwin passes away, penniless, he even purchases a large monument for his former master's grave site. The book traces King's growing association with powerful men in Alabama. In time, as the former slave's work becomes well known, he runs for office and wins a seat in the Alabama legislature. In the surest testament to how far King went in his lifetime, the statehouse where he served was the same building in which he had worked as a carpenter some years before! Although there is more of King's history recorded than that of many slaves, we still don't have all of the facts. The author is careful to point out what is known and what is not. Like most books for this age group, it's designed to be easy to read. Gibbons succeeds in crafting a well-written account of the life of this fascinating man.