"Tasting Freedom: Octavius Catto and the Battle for Equatlity in Civil War America" By Daniel Biddle and Murray Dubin

"Tasting Freedom: Octavius Catto and the Battle for Equality in Civil War America"

In their jointly authored book, Biddle and Dubin recreate the life of the largely unknown Octavius Catto, a free black man in nineteenth century Philadelphia. In doing so, they elucidate the forgotten but very important and courageous efforts by blacks in the North to obtain civil rights before, during and after the Civil War. Catto, "free" largely in name only, was a powerful orator who shared stage with Frederick Douglas, was second baseman on the best black baseball team in Philadelphia and a teacher at the city's finest black school. In partnership with an amazing cast of men and women who called themselves a band of brothers, Catto challenged injustices and strived to change America well before the civil rights movement of the sixties. The authors of this rich biography, which was seven years in it's creation , will tell the story of this man and help us to more deeply understand this period of American history, the history of Philadelphia and what life was like for blacks after the Civil War.

Murray Dubin, author of South Philadelphia: Mummers, Memories and the Melrose Diner, was a reporter and editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer for 34 years before leaving the newspaper in 2005. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife. Daniel R. Biddle, The Philadelphia Inquirer's Pennsylvania editor, has worked in nearly every phase of newspaper reporting and editing. His investigative stories on the courts won a Pulitzer Prize and other national awards. He and his wife live in Philadelphia.