African American History
It is impossible to understand America without understanding the history of African Americans. In nearly seven hundred entries, the Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619-1895 documents the full range of the African American experience during that period - from the arrival of the first slave ship to the death of Frederick Douglass - and shows how all aspects of American culture, history, and national identity have been profoundly influenced by the experience of African Americans. The Encyclopedia covers an extraordinary range of subjects. Major topics such as Abolitionism, Black Nationalism, the Civil War, the Dred Scott case, Reconstruction, Slave Rebellions and Insurrections, the Underground Railroad, and Voting Rights are given the in-depth treatment one would expect. But the encyclopedia also contains hundreds of fascinating entries on less obvious subjects, such as the African Grove Theatre, Black Seafarers, Buffalo Soldiers, the Catholic Church and African Americans, Cemeteries and Burials, Gender, Midwifery, New York African Free Schools, Oratory and Verbal Arts, Religion and Slavery, the Secret Six, and much more. In addition, the Encyclopedia offers brief biographies of important African Americans - as well as white Americans who have played a significant role in African American history - from Crispus Attucks, John Brown, and Henry Ward Beecher to Olaudah Equiano, Frederick Douglass, Sarah Grimké, Sojourner Truth, Nat Turner, Phillis Wheatley, and many others. All of the Encyclopedia's alphabetically arranged entries are accessibly written and free of jargon and technical terms. To facilitate ease of use, many composite entries gather similar topics under one headword. The entry for Slave Narratives, for example, includes three subentries: The SlaveNarrative in America from the Colonial Period to the Civil War, Interpreting Slave Narratives, and African and British Slave Narratives. A headnote detailing the various subentries introduces each composite entry. Selective bibliographies and cross-references appear at the end of each article to direct readers to related articles within the Encyclopedia and to primary sources and scholarly works beyond it. A topical outline, chronology of major events, nearly 300 black and white illustrations, and comprehensive index further enhance the work's usefulness.
Co-founder of the Niagara Movement (the first civil rights movement of the twentieth century) at Harpers Ferry, Freeman Henry Morris Murray was an African American activist for civil rights who risked his life and the lives of others to fight for what he knew would lead to the advancement of his people. He was a successful and knowledgeable man and this biography details his many talents based on years of research and family interviews. Author: Anita Hackley-Lambert. Publisher: HLE Publishing. Paperback, 288 pages. Measures 6" x 9". Weighs: 1 lb. 1.4 oz.
When John Brown came to Harpers Ferry in 1859, organizing a school for enslaved African Americans was illegal. Eight years later, after a bloody Civil War, Storer College did just that—and more. To honor the 150th anniversary of the school’s founding, Harpers Ferry Park Association, in partnership with Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, invited park rangers, professors, journalists, and scholars to tell the stories of the teachers, students, and reformers who strove to manifest a new world on the “hill of hope.” This collection reveals tales of courage and conviction, success and defeat, controversy and, above all, hope. Publisher: Harpers Ferry Park Association. Paperback, 176 pages. Measures 6" x 9". Weighs 10.5 oz.
In late August 1619, a ship arrived in the British colony of Virginia bearing a cargo of twenty to thirty enslaved people from Africa. Their arrival led to the barbaric and unprecedented system of American chattel slavery that would last for the next 250 years. This is sometimes referred to as the country's original sin, but it is more than that: It is the source of so much that still defines the United States. The New York Times Magazine's award-winning "1619 Project" issue reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This new book substantially expands on that work, weaving together eighteen essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with thirty-six poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance. The essays show how the inheritance of 1619 reaches into every part of contemporary American society, from politics, music, diet, traffic, and citizenship to capitalism, religion, and our democracy itself. This is a book that speaks directly to our current moment, contextualizing the systems of race and caste within which we operate today. It reveals long-glossed-over truths around our nation's founding and construction--and the way that the legacy of slavery did not end with emancipation, but continues to shape contemporary American life. Contributors: Nikole Hannah-Jones, Dorothy Roberts, Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Leslie Alexander, Michelle Alexander, Jamelle Bouie, Martha S. Jones, Carol Anderson, Ryan Stevenson, Trymaine Lee, Linda Villarosa, Anthea Butler, Wesley Morris, Jeneen Interlandi, Kevin M. Kruses, Ibram X. Kendi. Created by Nikole Hannah-Jones. Publisher: One World. Hardcover, 590 pages. Measures 6.25" x 9.5". Weighs: 1 lb. 15.8 oz.
Today all children are required to attend school, but there was a time when all Americans did not enjoy the right to an education and the chance to improve their situation in life. In the nineteenth century, it was against the law in some areas of the United States to teach African Americans. The laws were rooted in the slave system of the South. In this book, we trace the history of African American education before and after the Civil War, from secret schools to well-established universities. Publisher: Cobblestone Publishing Company. 48 pages, paperback. Measures 7" x 9". Weighs 3.3 oz.
Experience the joy of Juneteenth in this celebration of freedom from the award-winning team of Angela Johnson and E.B. Lewis. Through the eyes of one little girl, All Different Now tells the story of the first Juneteenth, the day freedom finally came to the last of the slaves in the South. Since then, the observance of June 19 as African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond. This stunning picture book includes notes from the author and illustrator, a timeline of important dates, and a glossary of relevant terms. Told in Angela Johnson's signature melodic style and brought to life by E.B. Lewis's striking paintings, All Different Now is a joyous portrait of the dawn breaking on the darkest time in our nation's history. Author: Angela Johnson. Illustrator: E. B. Lewis. Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. Hardcover, 40 pages. Measures: 11.25" x 9.25". Weighs: 15.7 oz.
John Brown is an endlessly fascinating historical figure. Here are two classic studies by a pioneer in African American studies, one about the place of John Brown in African American history, the other about the reasons for the unique esteem in which he has been held by successive generations of blacks.This two-in-one edition features a new introduction by William S. McFeely, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Grant: A Biography. Author: Benjamin Quarles. Publisher: Da Capo Press. Paperback, 164 pages. Measures 5" x 8". Weighs: 12.2 oz.
Who was Harriet Tubman before she was Harriet? We know her today as Harriet Tubman, but in her lifetime she was called by many names. As General Tubman she was a Union spy. As Moses she led hundreds to freedom on the Underground Railroad. As Minty she was a slave whose spirit could not be broken. As Araminta she was a young girl whose father showed her the stars and the first steps on the path to freedom. An evocative poem and stunning watercolors come together to honor a woman of humble origins whose courage and compassion make her a larger than life hero. A lush and lyrical biography of Harriet Tubman, written in verse and illustrated by James Ransome, winner of the Coretta Scott King medal for The Creation. Author: Lesa Cline-Ransome. Illustrator: James E. Ransome. Publisher: Holiday House. Hardcover, 32 pages. Measures: 9.25" x 11.25". Weighs: 14.4 oz.
Surprisingly, kids were some of the key instigators in the Civil Rights Movement, like Barbara Johns, who held a rally in her elementary school gym that eventually led to the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court school desegregation decision, and six-year-old Ruby Bridges, who was the first black student to desegregate elementary schools in New Orleans. In The Civil Rights Movement for Kids, children will discover how students and religious leaders worked together to demand the protection of civil rights for black Americans. They will relive the fear and uncertainty of Freedom Summer and learn how northern white college students helped bring national attention to atrocities committed in the name of segregation, and they'll be inspired by the speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers, and Malcolm X. Activities include: reenacting a lunch counter sit-in; organizing a workshop on nonviolence; holding a freedom film festival followed by a discussion; and organizing a choral group to sing the songs that motivated the foot soldiers in this war for rights. Author: Mary C. Turck. Publisher: Chicago Review Press. Paperback, 189 pages. Measures 11" x 8.5". Weighs 1 lb. 8.2 oz.
Christopher Award-winning author Jerdine Nolen imagines a young woman's journey from slavery to freedom in this intimate and powerful novel that was named an ALA/YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults nominee. It is 1854 in Alexandria, Virginia. Eliza's mother has been sold away and Eliza is left as a slave on a Virginia farm. It is Abbey, the cook, who looks after Eliza, when she isn't taking care of the Mistress. Eliza has only the quilt her mother left her and the stories her mother told to keep her mother's memory close. When the Mistress's health begins to fail and Eliza overhears the Master talk of the Slave sale auction and of Eliza being traded, she takes to the night. She follows the path and the words of the farmhand Old Joe: "Travel the night. Sleep the day...Go east. Keep your back to the setting of the sun. Come to the safe house with a candlelight in the window...That gal, Harriet, she'll take you." All the while, Eliza recites the stories her mother taught her as she travels along her freedom road from Mary's Land to Pennsylvania to Freedom's Gate in St. Catharines, Canada, where she finds not only her freedom but also more than she could have hoped for.