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Josiah Henson Biography

Sharp Flashes of Lightning Come from Black Clouds: The Life of Josiah Henson

by Jamie Ferguson Kuhns

An in-depth biography, Sharp Flashes of Lightning Come from Black Clouds: The Life of Josiah Henson, details the life of Reverend Josiah Henson based on Henson’s autobiography and primary source documents. Written by Montgomery Parks’ Senior Historian, Jamie Ferguson Kuhns, this book documents over 10 years of research.

This book is a comprehensive portrait of Reverend Henson and the 19th-century world in which he lived. It does not shy away from the details of slavery on a Maryland plantation – as told in Henson’s own voice.

While exploring Reverend Henson’s role as an inspiration for Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 19th-century landmark novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, this publication presents Henson as the real person rather than a fictional character.

Sharp Flashes of Lightning Come from Black Clouds will complement the visitor experience at the soon-to-be-built Josiah Henson Museum & Park in North Bethesda, Maryland. This site is the former Isaac Riley Plantation where Henson was enslaved for more than 30 years.

Hardcover Edition: $39.99, plus tax and shipping (Order your copy today!)

Available also at these local retailers:

  • Brookside Gardens Gift Shop, 1800 Glenallan Avenue, Wheaton, MD 20902
  • Woodlawn Museum Gift Shop, 16501 Norwood Road, Sandy Spring, MD 20860
  • Josiah Henson Museum and Park, 11410 Old Georgetown Road, North Bethesda MD 20852
  • Montgomery County Historical Society, 111 W Montgomery Ave, Rockville, MD 20850
  • Montpelier Mansion Gift Shop, 9650 Muirkirk Road, Laurel, MD 20708
  • Peerless Rockville Gift Shop, (Historic Red Brick Courthouse) 29 Courthouse Square, Room 110, Rockville, MD 20850