Bridget "Biddy" Mason: From Slave to Businesswoman (Signature Lives)

Gr. 4-6. A slave who successfully sued for her freedom and the first African American woman to own property in Los Angeles, Biddy Mason makes a good fit in the Signature Lives: American Frontier Era series. Williams compensates for the paucity of historical information about her subject by tracing the rise of Mormonism and the westward migrations of Mason's Mormon owners, along with their later lives. The color illustrations, which include photos, drawings, and occasional handbills and newspaper clippings, are archival, except for modern maps, and readers seeking more information will find references to both primary- and secondary-source material, as well as Web resources, at the end. Titles on Zebulon Pike and Sam Houston are also available. John PetersCopyright © American Library Association.