Harriet Jacobs was a former slave who penned an autobiography detailing her escape from an oppressive master who made sexual advances towards her. Jacobs became a darling of the anti-slavery movement with the publication of her book,Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl, helping other slaves by way of her celebrity.
Jacobs was born into slavery in Edenton, N.C. in 1813. She wrote in her book that the first six years of her life, she didn’t realize she was owned. After the death of her owner, she was given to to a girl too young to be a master and fell under the rule of the girl’s father, Dr. James Norcom, at age 12. When Jacobs turned 15, Norcom pursued her sexually though she rebuffed him at every turn.