WORCESTER, Mass. - Getting a book published can be a difficult task, even by today's standards. In the 19th century, facing many obstacles including finances and race, Worcester's Black authors would do it on their own.

"What Worcester writers did is something different," said John Garcia, the American Antiquarian Society's director of scholarly programs and partnerships. "They often turned to local printers and the local community to get their story out."

Garcia provided Spectrum News 1 a look at numerous works created by Black authors, many of which were self-published.

"In some cases, they started with a pamphlet," Garcia said. "And the pamphlet is a really important piece of African American writing. The pamphlet is always cheap, it's easy to get out there."

A common theme among the writings is escaping slavery, but authors would also share their stories of everyday life.

"We have one example of a man who decided the most important thing, the thing that was most interesting that he wanted people to know about himself, is that he worked on a whaling ship in the 19th century," Garcia said.

Some of those authors would only go by their first name, for example, the story of Aaron.

"All we know about Aaron is the picture on the front, and the story that he tells us," Garcia said. "But he gives us one really interesting detail. He says that he sells his pamphlet not just so readers can take the story and keep it in their heads, but he says he wants to lay it up in our hearts."

Others were not as mysterious. Among the works at the society is that of Bethany Veney, who was born into slavery in Virginia and later moved to Worcester. In 1889, she published "The narrative of Bethany Veney, a Slave Woman."

"She tells us that along the way, in addition to writing a very fascinating story about her life, she says, 'I want to make a little money too, to help support myself in my old age,'" Garcia said.

The society has hundreds of books they say were likely self-published by Black authors, which provide a unique glimpse to the period and the people who came before us.

"It makes AAS probably one of the places that scholars and the general public come to discover more and learn more about African American history in the 19th century," Garcia said.