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Smith is famous for writing the earliest slave narrative in the United States, "A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture, A Native of Africa: But Resident Above Sixty Years in the United States of America," in 1798. It is a detailed account of his life, including some very challenging times, but also one of perseverance and triumph.
According to the Library of Congress Blogs, "Smith's narrative is a rare account of slavery in Colonial New England, one of only a few ever published. It's also one of the very few records of enslaved people who told of their lives in Africa."
Smith was kidnapped in Africa at the age of 6 and spent his last decades in East Haddam. The city lists his gravesite at the First Church of Christ cemetery as a tourist attraction, and it sits on the Connecticut Freedom Trail.
To learn more about Smith, please click on the image of his descendants who visited his gravesite on Venture Smith Day in 2019. |
