General History

Breaking glass ceilings, organizing clubs, and making history as the first in their fields, these trailblazing Black women paved the way for new generations.From Nettie Craig Asberry, founder of the Tacoma NAACP, to Dr. Dolores Silas, now honored by a...

A classic history of the role of Black working-class struggles throughout the twentieth centuryIn this pioneering history, Ron Ramdin traces the roots of Britain's disadvantaged black working class. From the development of a small black presence in the...

After the American Civil War, many African Americans found a new life in "River Town," later to become a major city in Kentucky.Louisville became a historic marker for freed men and women of color who bought acres of land or leased shotgun cottages and...

Osprey's study of African Americans who participated in the American Civil War (1861-1865). Approximately 200,000 African Americans fought for the Union during the Civil War. Initially, many white soldiers doubted their bravery and skill; they were soon...

Author and historian Chris Dier reveals the horrifying true story behind the St. Bernard Parish Massacre.As African American men gained the right to vote, white Democrats of St. Bernard Parish feared losing their majority. Armed groups mobilized to...

Caliph Washington didn't pull the trigger but, as Officer James Cowboy Clark lay dying, he had no choice but to turn on his heel and run. The year was 1957; Cowboy Clark was white, Caliph Washington was black, and this was the Jim Crow South.As He Calls...

Fiftieth Anniversary EditionOriginally published in 1966, Miguel Barnet's Biography of a Runaway Slave provides the written history of the life of Esteban Montejo, who lived as a slave, as a fugitive in the wilderness, and as a soldier fighting against...

A "gripping and poignant" (Wall Street Journal) account of the coming of the American Civil War, showing the crucial role of slaves who escaped to Mexico The Underground Railroad to the North promised salvation to many American slaves before the Civil...

Springfield became the capital of Illinois due in large part to Abraham Lincoln--lawyer, politician, and president. Lincoln lived in Springfield from 1837 to 1861, and during the decade after his departure, the African American population in the city...

Located in the rural northeastern part of North Carolina, Somerset was cumulatively home to more than 800 enslaved blacks and four generations of a planter family.When the institution of slavery ended in 1865, Somerset Place was the third largest...

Chicago has long been a haven of organized from, home to such celebrated figures as Al Capone, Lucky Luciano and Sam Giancana. In Black Gangsters of Chicago, author Ron Chepesiuk focuses on a lesser known group, the annals of black organized crime in...

Experience a cool splash of music history from the Bayou State! This intensely personal and entertaining account is a snapshot of Blues from an outsider welcomed into the inner circles of Southern Blues icons. Englishman Julian C. Piper spent a year...