Beyond the Boundaries of Childhood: African American Children in the Antebellum North, Crystal Lynn Webster (2021).

The article reviews *Beyond the Boundaries of Childhood: African American Children in the Antebellum North* by Crystal Lynn Webster, which examines how Black childhood was racialized and marginalized within the ideology of American childhood during the Antebellum period in the urban North. Webster analyzes institutions such as orphanages, reformatories, and schools to reveal how gradual emancipation shaped Black children’s experiences, often limiting their access to leisure and subjecting them to labor and segregation. Central to the work is the concept of Black children’s resistance, including the idea of "fugitive play," which challenges dominant archival narratives that exclude or pathologize Black childhood. Webster’s study contributes to broader discussions of Black identity and resistance by situating African American children’s lives within the racialized and gendered frameworks of childhood and emphasizing their agency despite systemic oppression.