Children’s Books from Students of Visual Culture of Slavery Course Published Online

Black Maple Magazine has digitally published an open access collection of 18 original illustrated children's books about slavery in Canada and the U.S. North created by the students of Charmaine A. Nelson's Spring 2025 UMass Amherst art history course, The Visual Culture of Slavery.

A leading scholar of trans-Atlantic slavery studies, Nelson is a provost professor of art history and the founding director of Slavery North, an initiative that supports research on the understudied histories of Canadian Slavery and slavery in the U.S. North.

"My students have risen to the challenge of creating powerful children's books that accurately represent trans-Atlantic slavery while engaging young readers with age-appropriate materials," Nelson says. "There is no shortage of children's books focused on slavery in tropical regions. What is missing is academic and children's literature about slavery in temperate climate regions where enslaved Black people were outnumbered by white settlers and indigenous people.

"Digitally publishing my students' books allows us to bring their groundbreaking work to a wider audience of young readers, parents, and educators," Nelson adds. "This is the power of the digital age. Black Maple Magazine allows us to share the work of my brilliant students far beyond our campus and far into the future. At a time when the US government is attempting to sanitize the history of slavery or to ensure that it is are not taught at all, this work is more important than ever."

The collection was first showcased at "Sowing History, Reaping Justice: Writing Children's Books about Slavery in Canada and the U.S. North," an exhibition at the Slavery North Initiative at UMass Amherst that ran from April 16-Aug. 26.

The digital books are free to download from Black Maple Magazine.