Hard Labor The First African Americans, 1619

Erased by TimeIn 1619 twenty Africans stepped foot on American soil. They came not as slaves, but as indentured servants. They knew if they could hold on and finish out their sentences, they would be free. They came with dreams of the future and a vision of life as good as any other person's, black or white.Who were these people? How did they get here? What happened to them? Much of the information about them -- even their names -- has been lost. Stories about them are incomplete, and facts are blurred by centuries of neglect. But their stories are worth knowing and keeping and sharing, for they are a part of the American saga.This is their story.

Patricia C. McKissack is the author of many highly acclaimed books for children, including Goin' Someplace Special, a Coretta Scott King Award winner; The Honest-to-Goodness Truth; Let My People Go, written with her husband, Fredrick, and recipient of the NAACP Image Award; The Dark-Thirty, a Newbery Honor Book and Coretta Scott King Award winner; and Mirandy and Brother Wind, recipient of the Caldecott Medal and a Coretta Scott King Honor Book. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri.

Fredrick McKissack has nearly twenty years experience as a writer and an editor. His articles, op-eds, and reviews have been published in The Washington Post, Vibe magazine, and others. He lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with his wife, Lisa, and their son, Mark.

An award-winning, freelance artist-illustrator since 1973, Joseph Daniel Fiedler has produced art and illustrations that have appeared in numerous publications and exhibitions. Fiedler has illustrated children’s books and received a Silver Medal from the Society of Illustrators of New York. Fiedler’s personal paintings have been exhibited at galleries in Germany, Japan, and throughout the United States. He has taught painting and illustration at Carnegie Mellon University and the College for Creative Studies. Fiedler has lived in Pennsylvania, Japan, New Mexico, and Michigan and now resides in Grass Valley, California. Learn more about Joseph Daniel Fiedler at ScaryJoey.com.