President of the Underground Railroad

Growing up in a Quaker family in the South in 1830, Levi Coffin did not support slavery, but he was exposed to its atrocities. Convinced that every person deserved to be free, Levi began helping slaves escape to the North along the Underground Railroad, and during the following 40 years he was able to help over 3,000 people find freedom. Gwenyth Swain is the author of more than two dozen books for young readers. A two-time winner of a Minnesota Book Award for children's nonfiction, she loves history and historical fiction. Ms. Swain runs the middle school and high school libraries at Twin Cities Academy in St. Paul. Formerly, she was a costumed history player at historic Fort Snelling, a soda jerk, and a bookstore clerk.