Jacobs, Harriet Ann

Jacobs, Harriet Ann (1813–97) escaped slave, author; born in Edenton, N.C. Born in slavery, she was threatened by the sexual advances of her owner, Dr. James Norcom; later she had two children by a white man. She escaped from slavery and hid for seven years in her grandmother's attic. She made her way to New York City and worked there as a domestic servant. Under the pen name Linda Brent, she wrote the story of her experiences in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself (1861). She worked as a nurse during the Civil War and then lived in Washington, D.C. Her book was long forgotten until discovered in the 1980s.