Presents the profiles of fifty famous American heroes from several backgrounds such as political, medical, environmental, presidential, and scientific. Also includes the authors' web site for additional information on each hero.
From celebrated Congressman John Lewis comes an eyewitness account of history from a key member of the Civil Rights Movement and confidant to Martin Luther King Jr. In turbulent times Americans look to the Civil Rights Movement as the apotheosis of political expression. As we confront a startling rise in racism and hate speech and remain a culture scarred by social inequality, there's no better time to revisit the lessons of the '60s...
Since its founding, Nashville has been a center of black urban culture in the Upper South. Blacks—slave and free—made up 20 percent of Fort Nashborough's settlers in 1779. From these early years through the Civil War, a growing black community in Nashville, led by a small group of black elites, quietly built the foundations of a future society, developing schools, churches, and businesses. The Civil War brought new freedoms and challenges
This narrative provides a comprehensive history of America's Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The book concludes that race, the Civil Rights movements, and black and white philanthropy had much affect on the development of these minority institutions. Northern white philanthropy had much to do with the start and maintenance of the nations HBCUs from 1837 into the 1940s. Even from 1950 to 1970, HBCUs depended upon financial support...
A frank examination of Aretha Franklin, Mark Bego's definitive biography traces her career accomplishments from her beginnings as a twelve-year-old member of a church choir in the early 1950s, to recording her first album at the age of fourteen and signing a major recording contract at eighteen, right up through untimely passing in 2018. Originally positioned to become a gospel star in her father's Detroit church, Aretha had a privileged urban upbringing;...
An anthology of autobiographical writings that combine to present a history of the African-American experience, arranged chronologically by date of author's birth, from 1710 to 1963.
Documents the rise and fall of the legendary Memphis thoroughfare that indelibly shaped American culture, documenting its story through the life of former slave and first black millionaire Robert Church.
Black blues singer Bessie Smith single-handedly scares off Ku Klux Klan members who are trying to disrupt her show one hot July night in Concord, North Carolina. Includes historical note.