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Last Seen : The Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families by Judith Giesberg (2025, Hardcover)

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Last Seen : The Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families, Hardcover by Giesberg, Judith, ISBN 1982174323, ISBN-13 9781982174323, Like New Used, Free shipping in the US "Drawing from an archive of nearly five thousand letters and advertisements, the riveting, dramatic story of formerly enslaved people who spent years searching for family members stolen away during slavery"--

About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherSimon & Schuster

ISBN-101982174323

ISBN-139781982174323

eBay Product ID (ePID)27068274839

Product Key Features

Book TitleLast Seen : the Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families

Number of Pages336 Pages

LanguageEnglish

TopicSlavery, United States / 19th Century, United States / General, African American

Publication Year2025

IllustratorYes

GenreSocial Science, History

AuthorJudith Giesberg

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height1.2 in

Item Weight17.1 Oz

Item Length9 in

Item Width6 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN2024-030632

Reviews"Heartbreaking, and essential." --Jill Lepore, author of These Truths "Love speaks across miles, decades and centuries in this meticulously excavated tribute to the formerly enslaved mothers, fathers, siblings, and kin who published "last seen" advertisements in search of loved ones stolen from them in bondage. Patience and Clara Bashop, Hagar Outlaw, Tally Miller, and the other seekers featured here may or may not have succeeded in having their beloveds restored to them, but the power of their loving, the spirit of their loved ones, and the immense scope of their courage breathe off the page in this vital work of recovery." --Ilyon Woo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Master, Slave, Husband, Wife " Last Seen narrates the stories behind family separations and the indefatigable efforts of formerly enslaved people to find lost loved ones after the Civil War using thousands of "information wanted" advertisements in newspapers. Judy Giesberg brings to life poignant tales of hopeful (though rarely successful) parents, siblings, and other kin through her diligent research to trace the paths and flesh out micro-biographies of some of those who searched against all odds. This is essential reading for understanding both the cruelties of slavery and the resiliency of the generations harmed." --Tera W. Hunter, Chair of African American Studies at Princeton University "The gripping stories of loss and love in Last Seen trace the journeys of slavery's survivors in America who, for decades, tried to reunite their shattered families. By exposing the heartbreak of forced separations at slave auctions and the horrors of trafficking children, author Judith Giesberg brilliantly banishes the myth that enslaved people were content with their situation. Scrupulously researched, Last Seen is an eye-opening account of the long-lasting damage and disarray caused by the greed and cruelty of America's slave trade. And the common thread in this tapestry of truth is the enduring power of hope." --Ann Hagedorn, award-winning author of Beyond the River and Savage Peace " Last Seen is a powerful, wrenching, and necessary work that shows us how central family histories are to understanding American history. The stories of parents and children, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, desperately seeking and mostly not finding one another in the wake of slavery's violence reveal the indelible horrors of family separation. They also show that, rather than a recent or isolated phenomenon, family separation has been a recurring consequence of politics and policy." --Karin Wulf, Director of the John Carter Brown Library and Professor of History, Brown University "This unvarnished account reminds us that centuries of suffering have yet to be fully acknowledged or atoned for. Informative and sobering." --Kirkus Reviews " A heart-wrenching work." --Library Journal, starred review "Groundbreaking...underlines both the lasting trauma of the ruthless shattering of families and the perseverance of the formerly enslaved in searching for their loved ones." --Wall Street Journal "[Giesberg's] affecting book focuses on ten cases that powerfully illuminate the inhumanity of slavery." --Christian Science Monitor, "Heartbreaking, and essential." --Jill Lepore, author of These Truths "Love speaks across miles, decades and centuries in this meticulously excavated tribute to the formerly enslaved mothers, fathers, siblings, and kin who published "last seen" advertisements in search of loved ones stolen from them in bondage. Patience and Clara Bashop, Hagar Outlaw, Tally Miller, and the other seekers featured here may or may not have succeeded in having their beloveds restored to them, but the power of their loving, the spirit of their loved ones, and the immense scope of their courage breathe off the page in this vital work of recovery." --Ilyon Woo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Master, Slave, Husband, Wife " Last Seen narrates the stories behind family separations and the indefatigable efforts of formerly enslaved people to find lost loved ones after the Civil War using thousands of "information wanted" advertisements in newspapers. Judy Giesberg brings to life poignant tales of hopeful (though rarely successful) parents, siblings, and other kin through her diligent research to trace the paths and flesh out micro-biographies of some of those who searched against all odds. This is essential reading for understanding both the cruelties of slavery and the resiliency of the generations harmed." --Tera W. Hunter, Chair of African American Studies at Princeton University "The gripping stories of loss and love in Last Seen trace the journeys of slavery's survivors in America who, for decades, tried to reunite their shattered families. By exposing the heartbreak of forced separations at slave auctions and the horrors of trafficking children, author Judith Giesberg brilliantly banishes the myth that enslaved people were content with their situation. Scrupulously researched, Last Seen is an eye-opening account of the long-lasting damage and disarray caused by the greed and cruelty of America's slave trade. And the common thread in this tapestry of truth is the enduring power of hope." --Ann Hagedorn, award-winning author of Beyond the River and Savage Peace " Last Seen is a powerful, wrenching, and necessary work that shows us how central family histories are to understanding American history. The stories of parents and children, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, desperately seeking and mostly not finding one another in the wake of slavery's violence reveal the indelible horrors of family separation. They also show that, rather than a recent or isolated phenomenon, family separation has been a recurring consequence of politics and policy." --Karin Wulf, Director of the John Carter Brown Library and Professor of History, Brown University "This unvarnished account reminds us that centuries of suffering have yet to be fully acknowledged or atoned for. Informative and sobering." --Kirkus Reviews

SynopsisDrawing from an archive of nearly five thousand letters and advertisements, the riveting, dramatic story of formerly enslaved people who spent years searching for family members stolen away during slavery. Of all the many horrors of slavery, the cruelest was the separation of families in slave auctions. Spouses and siblings were sold away from one other. Young children were separated from their mothers. Fathers were sent down river and never saw their families again. As soon as slavery ended in 1865, family members began to search for one another, in some cases persisting until as late as the 1920s. They took out "information wanted" advertisements in newspapers and sent letters to the editor. Pastors in churches across the country read these advertisements from the pulpit, expanding the search to those who had never learned to read or who did not have access to newspapers. These documents demonstrate that even as most white Americans--and even some younger Black Americans, too--wanted to put slavery in the past, many former slaves, members of the "Freedom Generation," continued for years, and even decades, to search for one another. These letters and advertisements are testaments to formerly enslaved people's enduring love for the families they lost in slavery, yet they spent many years buried in the storage of local historical societies or on microfilm reels that time forgot. Judith Giesberg draws on the archive that she founded--containing almost five thousand letters and advertisements placed by members of the Freedom Generation--to compile these stories in a narrative form for the first time. Her in-depth research turned up additional information about the writers, their families, and their enslavers. With this critical context, she recounts the moving stories of the people who placed the advertisements, the loved ones they tried to find, and the outcome of their quests to reunite. This story underscores the cruelest horror of slavery--the forced breakup of families--and the resilience and determination of the formerly enslaved. Thoughtful, heart-wrenching, and illuminating, Last Seen finally gives this lesser-known aspect of slavery the attention it deserves.

LC Classification NumberE185.2.G54 2025