Hetty Reckless, born Amy Hester Boadley around 1776, spent her life helping others escape slavery and start new lives. She was born enslaved in Salem, New Jersey, to Dorcas Boadley. The Johnson family enslaved Hetty, whose mother promised she would free Hetty upon her death. The Johnson family never kept that promise.

James McCune Smith (1813–1865) shattered 19th-century racial barriers as a physician, abolitionist, educator, and intellectual.

Against many harsh odds, Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745–1797) became an African writer. He used his experience as a former enslaved person to teach and encourage the British abolition movement.