As a young girl growing up outside Rochester in the 1950s, Kathleen Velsor was intrigued to hear stories about fugitive slaves who had lived nearby as a result of a local stop on the famed Underground Railroad. Today an associate professor in the School of Education at SUNY College at Old Westbury, Velsor maintains her interest in the Underground Railroad, having over the past 10 years researched its history on Long Island and co-authored three non-fiction books on the topic.

Now, in an effort to widen young people's understanding of Long Island's historic significance in relation to Harriet Tubman's famed effort, Velsor has released Brother & Me, a youth-oriented novel that weaves historical facts around the tale of a relationship between two characters living in Jericho and Westbury in the 1950s.

"The true account of the Underground Railroad on Long Island, with each of its stories of people helping people, is an important one in the lives of us all," said Dr. Velsor. "Through this fictional tale, and by talking about its outcomes in a more modern era, I hope to be able to engage young men and women and help them explore the history that surrounds us all."

Described by Velsor as "a mystery story of discovery based solidly in historical fact," Brother & Me chronicles the relationship between Thomas Jackson, a man descended from slaves, and Anna Willis, a young girl from Nassau County. The story is written in diary form retelling Anna's weekly meetings with her neighbor, Jackson, whom she calls Brother. The story is drawn from original documents and provides the reader with many pictures of people and photographs of stopping points on the Underground Railroad as well as maps and slave artifacts from Long Island.

In support of Brother and Me, published by Rosalie Ink Publications of Cold Spring Harbor, New York, Velsor is working to generate interest among local school administrators and educators to have the book used as part of history, social studies and civics curricula.

Along with her teaching responsibilities, Velsor also manages the Underground Railroad Teaching Partnership whereby she works with area school districts to perform training for teachers on the topic and expand people's understanding of its impact on Long Island.

Located on the historic North Shore of New York's Long Island, the State University of New York College at Old Westbury is a small public college that teaches students to lead at work, in the community and in life. In an environment that demands academic excellence and offers close interaction among students and faculty, Old Westbury offers more than 40 undergraduate opportunities in its liberal arts and professional programs and one graduate program in accounting. For more information on the State University of New York College at Old Westbury, visit www.oldwestbury.edu.