William Wells Brown (1814-1884) was a career abolitionist who escaped slavery before the age of 20. As a young man, Brown worked on a steamboat, while learning how to read and write. He joined several anti-slavery groups and began helping other African Americans seeking asylum. Brown went on to lecture and write several books detailing the horrors of slavery. In 1847, he published Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave, a memoir detailing his own harrowing account. This was followed by 1853's Clotel, which is often considered the first African American novel.

A multigenerational story detailing one family's attempt to navigate the harsh realities of slavery. Clotel; or, The President's Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States, by William Wells Brown, follows a group of mixed-race women, two of which are deemed the illegitimate daughters of President Thomas Jefferson.