Cradled at the foothills of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and once known as the "Textile Center of the South," Greenville has evolved into a prosperous hub for corporate development and global commerce. Greenville County's African American community, proud and resourceful, has strong roots dating back to 1770, when blacks helped to carve the county out of an upstate wilderness. The experiences of the black community and its long relationship with whites up to the civil rights movement helped to create the climate for the kaleidoscope of races and cultures in Greenville today.
Author Leola Clement Robinson has collected vintage photographs and exciting images from national and local archives and family collections. These images portray the struggles and accomplishments of African Americans in the past, on whose backs stand the remarkable achievements of the present, and offer a torch light of promise and challenge for the future.