While the writings of Olaudah Equiano, Richard Wright, and James Baldwin demonstrate the central role played by African Americans in these United States, efforts to show the importance of women and urban slaves to America’s story are still underappreciated. To this end, historian Jennie Lightweis-Goff swaps out the familiar image of a Black farm laborer for the stories of female city-dwellers toiling as hotel staff, sex workers, and domestics.