Prospectus for Voice of the Fugitives (page 1)

Born into slavery in Kentucky, Henry Bibb eventually escaped to Detroit while in his late twenties and became an abolitionist. His autobiography, Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, An American Slave, Written by Himself, became popular reading in abolitionist circles. Following the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, Bibb relocated to the settlement of Sandwich (now Windsor) in Canada. There he founded the first Black newspaper in Canada in 1851, entitled Voice of the Fugitive. A bi-weekly, the Voice militantly attacked racial bigotry, advocating the immediate end to slavery everywhere and the complete integration into Canadian society of the Black refugee. This copy of Bibb’s prospectus for the newspaper was sent to officials of the American Missionary Association in New York seeking that organization’s assistance in procuring funding for the publication.