African-American

These pictorial images illustrate the people, places, and events that have shaped the African-American culture and history of St. Petersburg.

St. Petersburg's African-American community enjoys a rich history that is evidenced within these pages of treasured images and detailed captions. Captured are the people, places, and events that have shaped this community from its earliest days to the present. Highlighted are the city's first black settlers John Donaldson and Anna Germain, former slaves, employees of Louis Bell Jr., and true pioneers. Acknowledged is the impact that the blacks who migrated here in the late 1800s had on the city's development. Shared are fond memories of black neighborhoods like Methodist and Pepper Towns that no longer exist, but can never be forgotten. Remembered is the community's fight for racial equality-using both peaceful and militant means.

Lexington's African-American community has survived and flourished despite obstacles that may have proven insurmountable to some.

Enriched by diversity and filled with fortitude, the Black community of Lexington has made their mark on history as well as the Bluegrass State's heritage. In Black America: Lexington, vintage images from archives and personal collections showcase the people, places, and events at the very heart and soul of the Black communities over the generations. Rare photos of civil rights demonstrations in the downtown area highlight Lexington's contributions to the local movement and to our nation's continued search for equality.

A history of the Cream City's lost Black neighborhood told by the people who lived there

Some people don't have to imagine what Milwaukee's Bronzeville was like. They have only to remember. They recall Walnut Street alive with businesses serving a hard-working Black population making something out of the meager resources available to them. They describe religious establishments such as St. Marks Methodist Episcopal, St. Benedict the Moor, Calvary Baptist, and St. Matthews CME attending to the spiritual life and remember the Flame, the Metropole, and Satin Doll night clubs taking care of entertainment and secular needs. Above all, they recollect a people looking out for the well-being of all within its realm.

Gathering interviews with residents of the now vanished neighborhood, Dr. Sandra E. Jones reimagines Bronzeville not just as a place, but as a spirit engendered by a people determined to make a way out of no way.

Pittsburgh is a working city, in no small part thanks to its strong African American community.

As an integral stop on the Underground Railroad, many enslaved people traveled through Pittsburgh on their way further North, and many still decided to stay. During the Great Migration of the early 20th century, Pittsburgh was again a main destination for African Americans from the rural South; approximately 95% of these men became steelworkers. There was never one centralized neighborhood where a majority of the Black population lived, but Jim Crow discrimination was still rampant, even in a city such as Pittsburgh. Photographs captured by famed Pittsburgh photographer Charles "Teenie'? Harris show the candid experiences of residents, including the achievements and celebrations of people struggling in adversity and finding happiness in their families and community.

Whether assisting escapes through the Underground Railroad, forming banks, publishing a newspaper, or providing recreational facilities, Portsmouth's African Americans created one of the most stable middle-class black communities in America.

African Americans in Portsmouth built a strong, insulated community because they were cognizant of the need to look inward. Early 20th-century leaders such as Dr. William Reid, Nancy T. Wheeler, and the Reverend Harvey N. Johnson Sr. were civic models and guiding forces for a community emerging from the ravages of slavery, and enduring the hardships of segregation.

Black America: Portsmouth, Virginia captures the world of an ever-changing community and a people who persevered, no matter the odds.

Sedalia and the Palmer Memorial Institute traces the growth and development of a rural Southern community that made an impact on the nation.

Sedalia, North Carolina, has a rich and diverse history. In 1901, the American Missionary Association hired a young woman, Charlotte Hawkins Brown, to teach at a small school in eastern Guilford County. The school closed in 1902, and at the request of the local residents, Brown remained and opened the Alice Freeman Palmer Memorial Institute, which in later years became a world renowned African-American preparatory school that educated children from the wealthiest families in the United States and six foreign nations.

The rich African-American heritage of Columbus, Georgia, comes alive in this engaging collection of images and stories.

From the town's early days when pioneers settled along the Chattahoochee River to its present status as a thriving metropolitan community, Columbus boasts an eventful history, one that would not be complete without the hard work and extraordinary achievements of its African-American community. Within these pages, the reader will discover such legendary figures as Eugene Bullard, the first black Aviator; Dr. Thomas Brewer, a champion of the Civil Rights movement; and Alma Thomas, a celebrated and accomplished visual artist.

The honesty of the voices within this illuminating oral history will draw you into the Grant County of yesteryear, and leave you feeling as if you were really there.

There's a story that goes like this . . . So begins Delores Betts, one of the dozens of people whose memories and recollections of African-American life in Grant County over the past century and a half are preserved within what may well be the most intriguing and inspiring history you will ever read. We invite you to join Barbara Stevenson and the dozens of others in this delightful journey back in time. It is an experience that we promise you will never forget.

In this volume discover the educational professionals and teaching strategies that shaped the lives of African Americans in DeKalb County, Georgia

A selfless and tireless educator, Narvie J. Harris has dedicated numerous years to the students and teachers of the DeKalb County School System. The impact she has made on this Georgia community is far-reaching--she has touched the lives of thousands through her words, her wit, and her example. In this unprecedented salute to her life and times, discover the incredible strides made in equal-opportunity education through a collection of images and memoirs, including the early Jeanes Supervisors who persevered in turbulent times to improve the quality of African-American education and the triumphant achievements of Mrs. Harris and others who dedicated countless hours to the betterment of the DeKalb County Schools.

Black Baseball in Pittsburgh chronicles the history of the Negro League in the Steel City from the Homestead Grays in the 1910s to the great Pittsburgh Crawfords teams of the 1930s and through the 1950s.

When the Negro National League was formed in Kansas City in 1920, a new chapter in America's sports history had begun. Here, you will meet legends such as ""Smokey"" Joe Williams, the famed ""Thunder Twins,"" Josh Gibson, the Steel City's Slugger Supreme, and Buck Leonard, the King of Negro League first basemen.

Georgia and the Power of the Vote traces the history of Georgia’s enfranchisement and its influence on American politics from 1865 to 2023.

Since Reconstruction, Georgia’s enfranchisement history has captured the nation’s attention. During multiple waves, massive voter registration, mobilization, and suppression efforts were influenced by the pull-pull forces of those wanting to sustain power and those untiringly committed to acquiring it; those hoping to maintain the status quo and those steadfastly determined to disrupt it; and those trying to exercise their right to vote and those trying to suppress it. This historical tug-of-war amongst Georgians has consistently had national implications. The outcome, nevertheless, has shaped national policy, influenced landmark court decisions, ignited social movements, and produced national leaders.

In this valuable volume of oral history, the recorded childhood memories of African Americans--from family rituals to first jobs, neighborhood games to school--are illustrated with vintage photographs culled from family albums and archives.

Chronicling the period from 1900 to the 1950s, Growing Up Black in New Castle County, Delaware brings together the touching stories of African Americans in northern Delaware who grew up during an era of both hardship and happiness. In a time when racial segregation was law and the nation faced such challenges as war and economic depression, African-American children in New Castle County and around the country were busy exploring the world around them-playing with friends, celebrating holidays, attending school, and learning the important life lessons that would carry them through the rest of the twentieth century.

Many of the unsung heroes of the Underground Railroad lived and worked in Washington, D.C.

Men and women, black and white, operatives and freedom seekers - all demonstrated courage, resourcefulness and initiative. Leonard Grimes, a free African American, was arrested for transporting enslaved people to freedom. John Dean, a white lawyer, used the District courts to test the legality of the Fugitive Slave Act. Anna Maria Weems dressed as a boy in order to escape to Canada. Enslaved people engineered escapes, individually and in groups, with and without the assistance of an organized network. Some ended up back in slavery or in jail, but some escaped to freedom. Anthropologist and author Jenny Masur tells their stories.

Author and researcher Char McCargo Bah recounts the stories of the men and women buried in Alexandria's freedman's cemetery and the search for their descendants.

At the beginning of the Civil War, Federal troops secured Alexandria as Union territory. Former slaves, called contrabands, poured in to obtain protection from their former masters. Due to overcrowding, mortality rates were high. Authorities seized an undeveloped parcel of land on South Washington Street, and by March 1864, it had been opened as a cemetery for African Americans. Between 1864 and 1868, more than 1,700 contrabands and freedmen were buried there. For nearly eighty years, the cemetery lay undisturbed and was eventually forgotten. Rediscovered in 1996, it has now been preserved as a monument to the courage and sacrifice of those buried within.

Learn and discover how African-Americans have held a prominent place in the history of Chattanooga dating back to the 16th century.

Did you know that Chattanooga is the hometown of the first African-American appointed to lead counsel on a Supreme Court case? The home of the nation's oldest student, who learned to read at age 116? The home of the African-American blacksmith who put shackles on the "Andrew's Raiders" after the Great Locomotive Chase? The site of one of the first integrated police departments in the South? Author Rita Lorraine Hubbard chronicles the ways African-Americans have shaped Chattanooga, and presents inspirational achievements that have gone largely unheralded over the years - and so much more!

Victorine Quille Adams was a Baltimore native and the first African American woman elected to the city council. Born in 1912, she lived through stringent segregation, racial violence and economic turbulence

Victorine Quille Adams was a Baltimore native and the first African American woman elected to the city council. Born in 1912, she lived through stringent segregation, racial violence and economic turbulence.

Educated at Morgan State and Coppin State Universities, she took to the classroom and enriched the lives of her students. In 1946, she founded the Colored Women's Democratic Campaign Committee to educate African American women about the vote and the power of the ballot box. In concert with fellow educators Mary McLeod Bethune, Kate Sheppard and Dr. Delores Hunt, she persisted in educating and empowering voters throughout her life. Author Ida E. Jones reveals the story of this civic leader and her crusade for equity for all people in Baltimore.