Amos Fortune, Free Man

Amos Fortune, Free Man (1950) is a middle-grade biographical novel based loosely on the life of Amos Fortune (c. 1710-1801). The title not only refers to the person at the center of the book but also his status as a “freeman,” the term typically used to describe people of African descent who were formerly enslaved but acquired their freedom. In 1951, Amos Fortune, Free Man won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children’s literature.

The book was written by Elizabeth Yates, a New York-born writer who traveled widely and spent her prolific writing career mainly on children’s literature. Yates decided to write Amos Fortune, Free Man after “viewing this former slave’s gravestone outside of a building where she was to attend a meeting” (“Elizabeth Yates,” Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.). The novel came out of subsequent research she did about his life. However, because there is little documentation about much of Fortune’s life, Yates invented much of the story. Other books by Yates include Mountain Born (1943), Skeezer: Dog With a Mission (1973), and Children of the Bible (1996). This guide cites the 1950 Aladdin Books edition.

Content Warning: The source material features slavery and anti-Black racist sentiments that are discussed extensively in this guide.