LibGuides Home: History Day Blueprint: Smith, Venture

Venture Smith / Broteer Furro

These are only some of the resources available.

Students may want to visit town clerks in search of Stonington and East Haddam land records.

Research Guides

Materials about the History of Slavery in Connecticut
New Haven County Court Records: Black & Indigenous History
Suggested resources from New Haven County Court Records project.

Books

Books, Documents, etc.

Venture Smith-Making Freedom by Chandler B. Saint; George A. Krimsky
Call Number: Stacks E444.S625 S25 2015 Item does not circulate. In-house use only.
ISBN: 9780692389805
Publication Date: 2015-01-26
Revised and expanded edition of Making freedom : the extraordinary life of Venture Smith, published by Wesleyan University in 2009.
Includes facsimile of the 1798 narrative (unnumbered pages 131-162).
Making Freedom by Chandler B. Saint; George A. Krimsky; James O. Horton (Other)
Call Number: Stacks E444.S625 S25 2009 Item does not circulate. In-house use only.
ISBN: 0819568546
Publication Date: 2009-02-26
Catalog: "This book is the first in depth exploration of the life of Venture Smith (1728-1805), a New England slave who was sold into bondage as a boy in Africa and labored for nearly a quarter century before purchasing his own freedom and transforming himself into a highly respected American citizen. Drawing on years of research and documentation, including Venture Smith's rare personal autobiography, the authors recount the extraordinary challenges he overcame. They cast a rare light on what it was like to be an African American in the north during the Colonial era. This story's relevance today prompted the BBC to produce a documentary on scholars' efforts to learn more about Venture Smith, his life, and family. The book includes a wealth of illustrations, a timeline, and Smith's original 1798 narrative in facsimile form."
Venture Smith and the Business of Slavery and Freedom by James Brewer Stewart (Editor); James O. Horton (Foreword by) LIBGUIDES: "Reconstructs the journey of an eighteenth-century African from enslavement through emancipation"
Call Number: Stacks E444.S625 V46 2010 Item does not circulate. In-house use only.
ISBN: 1558497404
Publication Date: 2010-03-01
Venture Smith's Family by Barnes, Barbara A.
Call Number: Stacks CS71.S643 1996
Publication Date: 1996
Degree granted: Certificate of Advanced Study Wesleyan University 1996.
Venture Smith : my freedom is a privilege which nothing else can equal by Saint, Chandler B., author. ; Forbes, Robert Pierce, author. ; Richardson, David, 1946- author of forward.
Call Number: Stacks E444.S625 S252 2018
Publication Date: 2018
Catalog: ""This book is related to Venture Smith - Making Freedom published in 2015 by the Documenting Venture Smith Project which was a revised and expanded edition of Making Freedom-The Extraordinary Life of Venture Smith, published by Wesleyan University Press in 2009. This new work reflects the continuing, intensive research by the Documenting Venture Smith Project and provides information not available in Venture Smith's Narrative, which was first published in 1798, or by historians since then."--T.p. verso."
Five Black Lives by Arna Bontemps (Other) LIBGUIDES: "Five Black Lives is a collection of ex-slave narratives which spans 150 years in time, from 1729 to 1870, and some thousands of miles in geographical area from Africa to Connecticut. The autobiographies include the lives of Venture Smith, a native of Africa who ended his days as a resident of East Haddam, Connecticut; James Mars, born a slave near Norfolk, Connecticut in 1790, and freed at twenty-five by state law; William Grimes, a native of Virginia, who became Connecticut's first known runway when he arrived in New Haven about 1808; G.W. Offley, from Maryland, who was bought free by his father and later settled in Hartford; and James L. Smith, of Virginia birth, who escaped from slavery and settled in Norwich, Connecticut."--Victor B. Howard, The New England Quarterly
Call Number: Stacks E444 .F49 Item does not circulate. In-house use only.
ISBN: 0819561908
Publication Date: 1987-06-01
African American Connecticut Explored by Elizabeth J. Normen (Editor); Katherine J. Harris (Other); Stacey K. Close (Other); Wm. Frank Mitchell (Other); Olivia White (Other) Requires a card from CSL for online access through our catalog, Primo.
Call Number: Online and Stacks E185.93.C7 A47 2013 Item does not circulate. In-house use only.
ISBN: 0819573981
Publication Date: 2014-01-27
The Venture Smith Homestead : Haddam, Connecticut by Lavin, Lucianne, Marc Banks, Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company, Publisher, and American Cultural Specialists, Publisher
Call Number: Online and Stacks E444.S625 L38 2010
Publication Date: 2010

AV resources

Audio/Visual Resources

Narrative of the life and adventures of Venture : a native of Africa, but resident above sixty years in the United States of America, related by himself. by see library catalog record for the list
Call Number: Stacks E444.S625 A3 2010 Sound Recording
Publication Date: c2010
Sound Recording
Catalog: "Venture Smith dictated his life story to schoolteacher Elisha Niles. It was Published as a A Narrative of the Life and Adeventures of Venture, A Native of Africa: But resident above sixty years in the United States of America, printed as a 32-page pamphlet by C. Holt at The Bee-Office, New London and first advertised for sale on December 26, 1798."-- CD Case.
Also includes comments by Chandler B. Saint, David Richardson, and conclusion by Marilyn Nelson."

Venture Smith's 1798 Autobiography
Online through WayBack Machine. Online access to CD of Narrative Of The Life And Adventures Of Venture : A Native Of Africa, But Resident Above Sixty Years In The United States Of America, Related By Himself.
Venture Smith, 'The Black Paul Bunyan'
NPR podcast" "In the 1700s, after escaping slavery, Venture Smith achieved success as a farmer and businessman in New England. Hear how researchers are trying to keep alive the story of Smith, dubbed "the black Paul Bunyan." "

Articles

Venture Smith, from Slavery to Freedom

Other Institutions

These are a few suggestions.

Venture Smith Site - Digging Into The Past
Site: "The Venture Smith site is a 17th century homestead and farm located just above the Salmon River on Haddam Neck. Archaeological and ethnohistoric investigations of this site have unearthed the incredible story of its owner, Venture Smith."
Venture Smith (Broteer Furro), A Narrative of the Life and Adventure... (PDF)
From the National Humanities Center. Excerpts with maps added.
Venture Smith Homestead
Unforgotten: Connecticut's Hidden History of Slavery
WNPR (CT Public Radio) series. site "a special series from Connecticut Public, featuring radio storytelling, in-depth videos, digital stories, pictures, a podcast and a television special."

Library of Congress (LOC)

Venture Smith: The First Slave Narrative
Library of Congress Blog Post by Neely Tucker, September 9, 2021. With links to additional resources on Venture Smith and Omar ibn Said
The Life and Adventure of Venture Smith
article by Neely Tucker, Library of Congress Magazine. November/December 2021, pp.18-21

Project Gutenberg

A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture, a Native of Africa, but Resident above Sixty Years in the United States of America, Related by Himself
CSL has this as an audiobook on CD.
Project Gutenberg has several formats to read online or download into an ereader.

HathiTrust.org

A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture, a Native of Africa, but Resident above Sixty Years in the United States of America, Related by Himself
CSL has this as an audiobook on CD.
Online in HathiTrust.org