General History

Once upon a time in the late nineteenth century, there was an outlaw that captured the imagination of the American public like no other. He can be compared to John Dillinger or Pretty Boy Floyd of the 1930s. Like both of these men, he garnered national...

June 1910, Charleston, South Carolina. A Jewish merchant, Max Lubelsky, lay murdered in his clothing store on Upper King Street. The black man eventually convicted of the crime was arrested several weeks later as an angry mob called for his lynching...

For 140 years, Charleston s Avery Research Center has been a hub of African American education and study in the South Carolina Lowcountry. No other institution compares to Avery s scope and impact on the black community in Charleston, and Avery s...

Now with a new afterword, the Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatic account of the Civil Rights Era's climactic battle in Birmingham as the movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., brought down the institutions of segregation. The Year of Birmingham, 1963,...

In the first book of its kind focusing on the expansive African American Mardi Gras experience in New Orleans, float designer and native New Orleanian Rene Pierre documents and explores the richness of his community's contributions. With two generations...

The first notes of jazz hit Cape Cod in the very early days of the genre. Bournehurst-on-the-Canal hosted top bands, and emerging swing era dancers packed the hall. Cape Cod's "First Lady of Jazz," Marie Marcus, was a child prodigy in Boston and found...

A firsthand exploration of the cost of boarding the bus of change to move America forward--written by one of the Civil Rights Movement's pioneers. At 18, Charles Person was the youngest of the original Freedom Riders, key figures in the U.S. Civil...

In 1911, the Charleston Colored Industrial School opened its doors to 375 African American boys and girls, making it the first public high school for African Americans in the city of Charleston. Throughout the years, there have been several public high...

In the aftermath of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, riots broke out in 110 cities across the country. For five days, Atlanta braced for chaos while preparing to host King's funeral. An unlikely alliance of former student radicals, the middle-aged...

Longlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction"There Kevin Young goes again, giving us books we greatly need, cleverly disguised as books we merely want. Unexpectedly essential."--Marlon JamesAward-winning poet and critic Kevin Young tours us...

The legendary Buffalo Soldiers, four army regiments of former slaves, were vital in taming the American frontier. The Tenth Cavalry of African American troopers rode across the Colorado plains to battle the Cheyennes and rescue wounded, starving soldiers...