Bond of Iron: Master and Slave at Buffalo Forge

Dew (history, Williams College) describes working and living conditions for slave families at the Buffalo Forge, an ironmaking and farming enterprise in Virginia. He traces patterns of accommodation and resistance, and elucidates the interaction between white and black that constituted the master-slave relationship. Dew draws on detailed records kept by the forge's owners describing epidemics, industrial accidents, slave genealogies and slave-naming practices; records from the Freedman's Bureau Marriage Register; and a three-volume journal kept by one of the Forge's owners. Includes a few b&w photos. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.