The Gift of Freedom: Glennette Tilley Turner Discusses Her New Book

Glennette Tilley Turner discusses her new book, as well as her other work as an author, historian, and educator. The prolific and distinguished author is our foremost authority on the Illinois Underground Railroad. During this one-hour discussion, Turner will provide insight into our region’s connections to Black history, and her research and writing on the subject. Registration for the program opens soon.

 For more than six decades, Turner taught and supervised teachers. Her children’s books include Surprise for Mrs. Burns (1971),Take a Walk in Their Shoes (1989), and An Apple for Harriet Tubman (2006). Many of her adult historical books, including Running for Our Lives (1994), Follow in Their Footsteps (1997), Fort Mose: And the Story of the Man Who Built the First Free Black Settlement in Colonial America (2010), and A Man Called Horse: John Horse and the Black Seminole Underground Railroad (2021), explore Black history. The Underground Railroad in DuPage County, Illinois (1978) and The Underground Railroad in Illinois (2001) serve as definite reference material; Turner has lectured widely on the topic.  She has also written collections of biographies of notable African Americans, such as Lewis Howard Latimer, and she serves as an advisor to the National Park Service, where she helps plan programs for the national historic Underground Railroad trail. Turner has received many honors, including the Studs Terkel Humanities Award and the Alice Browning Award from the International Black Writers Conference.

Turner’s latest book, The Gift of Freedom: How Harriet Tubman Rescued Her Brothers will be published by Abrams later in 2025. Registration for this Zoom discussion will open soon.