ABHM Book Club: Thirty Years a Slave by Louis Hughes
We are pleased to announce ABHM’s September’s Book of the Month: Thirty Years a Slave by Louis Hughes. We invite you to join us for a virtual discussion on Zoom.
About the Author
Louis Hughes (c.1832–1913) was born enslaved in Charlottesville, Virginia, to a white plantation owner and an enslaved mother. At age six, he was sold to Mississippi planter Edward McGee, living under harsh treatment in the McGee household near Memphis for over twenty years. Hughes secretly taught himself to read and write and made several escape attempts before finally gaining freedom in June 1865 with his wife, Matilda.
The couple settled in Milwaukee, where they opened a successful laundry business and raised four children. Hughes also worked as a nurse, using medical skills gained during slavery. In 1897, he published Thirty Years a Slave, an important firsthand account of bondage in Tennessee. H
About the Book
Published in 1897, Thirty Years a Slave: From Bondage to Freedom is Louis Hughes’s powerful firsthand account of slavery and emancipation. Written in clear chronological detail, the narrative describes his separation from his mother, years of service in the McGee household of Mississippi and Tennessee, and the brutal punishments he endured. Hughes recounts learning medicines from his enslaver, which he later used to nurse fellow slaves, and meeting his wife, Matilda, with whom he struggled to protect their children. He describes multiple escape attempts before finally securing freedom in 1865 as the Civil War ended. Beyond documenting daily life in bondage—its labor, punishments, and resilience—Hughes also reflects on the challenges of building a new life in freedom, making his story a vital window into both slavery and its aftermath.