Sunday, December 21, 2008 In Memoriam :: Dorothy Sterling Kid's
literature luminary Sterling dies at age 95 By Elaine Woo Los
Angeles Times Dorothy Sterling, a significant figure in 20th
century children's literature for her well-researched portrayals
of historical black Americans written decades before
multiculturalism became mainstream, died Dec. 1 at her home in
Wellfleet, Mass. She was 95. A self-described accidental
historian, Sterling wrote more than 35 books, among the best
known of which is "Freedom Train: The Story of Harriet Tubman."
Published in 1954 and still in print, it was one of the first
full-length biographies of a historic black figure written for
children. The author drew attention to more obscure but
important figures in "Captain of the Planter: The Story of
Robert Smalls" (1958), the first children's biography of the
slave who captured a Confederate gunboat during the Civil War.
"The Making of an Afro-American: Martin Robison Delany" (1971)
helped stir interest in the little-known abolit