"A distinguished group of 36 writers (for no pay or royalties), including community leaders as well as academic historians, has created Outside In: African-American History in Iowa, 1838-2000, a book certain to become the standard work on the African-American experience in Iowa. Each of the book's 20 chapters focuses on a particular aspect of that experience--legal and political rights, business and professional leardership, clubs and community organizations,...

A chronology of significant events in African-American history during the decade before the Civil War.

Traces the roots of black music in Africa and slavery and its evolution in the United States from the end of slavery to the present day. The music's creators, consumers, and distributors are all part of the story. Musical genres such as spirituals, ragtime, the blues, jazz, gospel, rhythm and blues, rock, soul, and hip-hop-as well as black contributions to classical, country, and other American music forms-depict the continuities and innovations that...

Afro-American celebrities recount their favorite childhood Christmas memories.

Originally published in 1994, Black Firsts inspired readers of all ages. An epic record of African American achievement, it testified to a rich but often overlooked part of our history. Jessie Carney Smith, William and Camille Cosby Professor of the Humanities at Fisk University, greatly expands the new edition with more than 1,000 new stories of a people overcoming adversity to emerge triumphant. With more than 100 illustrations, Black Firsts includes...

Describes a variety of landmarks and buildings that represent the experiences and accomplishments of African Americans throughout the history of the United States. In Landmarks of African American History, James Oliver Horton chooses thirteen historic sites to explore the struggles and triumphs of African Americans and how they helped shape the rich and varied history of the United States. Horton begins with the first Africans brought to Jamestown,...

Profiles celebrity and television host, Oprah Winfrey.

A collection of poems by African-American writers, including Lucy Terry, Gwendolyn Bennett, and Alice Walker.

"In spite of the double burden of racial and gender discrimination, African-American women have developed a rich intellectual tradition that is not widely known. In Black Feminist Thought, originally published in 1990, Patricia Hill Collins set out to explore the words and ideas of Black feminist intellectuals and writers, both within the academy and without. Here Collins provides an interpretive framework for the work of such prominent Black feminist...

Describes how the Pullman Company hired former slaves as sleeping car porters and became the largest employer of African American men in the country by the 1920s, creating a unique culture that blazed a path for a black middle class.