Galveston, Oh Galveston. Galveston, Texas has a rich and diverse history. "African Americans of Galveston" (2013) focuses on the vibrant African American presence in Galveston from the city's earliest days. The book is part of the "Images of America" series of Arcadia Publishing which documents many places and aspects of American local history in short, uniform volumes of photographs and textual commentary. The authors of this book, Tommie Boudreaux and Alice Gatson, are lifelong residents of Galveston who have both served as chairs of the Galveston Historical Foundation's African American Heritage Committee.
As the book explains, Galveston, founded in 1839, is a city on an island located in the Gulf of Mexico about 45 minutes south of Houston. The city's location gave it a rich maritime heritage and exposed it to the vagaries of the weather. It became home to an unusually diverse group of people and nationalities. As a somewhat remote island, Galveston also acquired the reputation of an "open city" where vices and other activities flourished in a way that would not be tolerated on the mainland. The diversity and free culture of Galveston worked to the benefit of African Americans.
The book shows both the national and the local nature of African American life in Galveston. It begins with the notorious pirate and slave trader Jean Lafitte (1776 -- 1823) who smuggled slaves into Galveston for years. Texas had a large slave population and became the last state of the Union to abolish slavery. On June 19, 1865, a Union general read a proclamation in Galveston formally decreeing the end of slavery. The Galveston proclamation, General Order No. 1, is the basis for the holiday of Juneteenth.
In the Reconstruction years, Galveston produced an African American leader of note in Norris Wright Cuney (1846 -- 1898) whose many accomplishments as a businessman, labor leader, civil rights activist, and political leader are well, if briefly depicted in the book. Perhaps the most famous incident in Galveston's history was the hurricane of 1900 which killed at least 6000 people, the most destructive storm in United States' history. The book shows the impact of the storm together with the heroic efforts of Galveston's African American community to help relieve the suffering in the storm's wake and to rebuild the city.
The book includes many rare old photographs of Galveston which show the harbor, the maritime workers and the distinctive city streets and buildings in the African American community. Chapters of the book describing African American community leaders, educational institutions, churches, medical facilities, and community organizations give a sense of the local life of Galveston's African Americans. The final chapter of the book describes African Americans from Galveston who achieved fame in education, business, music, sports, and other fields. Among these figures are Jack Johnson, the first African American heavyweight boxing champion, the renowned singer Esther Phillips and the blues singer and pianist Camille Howard. The book reminded me of these artists and moved me to listen to their music.
The portrayal of the city may have been sanitized somewhat as the book does little more than mention the wide-open quality of Galveston life. It would have been valuable to see the city beyond domestication. Still, the book fascinated me. I have never been to Galveston and I would like to go or at least to learn more. Readers with an interest in Galveston or in local African American life will enjoy this photographic history of the African American community of Galveston.
