“Fortunately, I come from an activist mother, so I didn't have to rely on the history books. The history books teach us nothing about the Underground Railroad aside from Harriet Tubman. So I knew more about it but, obviously, I had to dig deeper and expand my knowledge and do a lot of research once I took this project on. I had, like, a good two months to research before we started shooting, which isn't a lot, and I continued it throughout the five months of us shooting.” TwoBookMotherTeachFiveMonthsProjectsResearchDeeperShootingRelyActivistRailroadsTwo MonthsHistory BooksDig DeepUnderground Railroad Author:Jurnee Smollett
“I read slave narratives, books like Bullwhip Days, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. [The Root's chairman] Henry Louis Gates has an amazing documentary called Many Rivers to Cross - really, his whole writings; he's such a wealth of knowledge.” WritingBookWholeGirlWealthRiversCrossesRootsSlaveNarrativeGatesDocumentariesIncidentsChairmanWealth Of KnowledgeSlave Girl Author:Jurnee Smollett
“But really, for me, I tried to find first-person accounts. I tried to read stories from men and women who had survived slavery because it's different when you hear it from their mouths instead of reading it from a history book.” MenFirstsPersonsBookDifferentStoriesReadingMouthsMen And WomenAccountsSlaverySurvivedFirst PersonHistory Books Author:Jurnee Smollett
