Harriet A. (Harriet Ann) Jacobs
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself
"Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself" by Harriet A. Jacobs is an autobiography published in 1861. Written under the pseudonym Linda Brent, Jacobs recounts her experiences as an enslaved woman and mother who endured sexual abuse and years of hiding before escaping to freedom. She addresses Northern white women directly, revealing the particular horrors faced by enslaved mothers and challenging prevailing notions of womanhood that excluded Black women from their protection.