From the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, African Americans in the Washington, D.C. area sought leisure destinations where they could relax without the burden of racial oppression. Local picnic parks such as Eureka and Madre's were accessible by streetcars. Black-owned steamboats ferried passengers seeking sun and sand to places like Collingwood Beach, and African American families settled into quiet beach-side communities along the Western Shore of Maryland. Author and public...

This "enlightening" social history of the construction of the Erie canal explores "19th-century perceptions of progress, politics, and the common good" ( Kirkus Reviews).Woven from a rich tapestry of research, The Artificial River is more than just a historical account of the Erie Canal—it encapsulates a pivotal era in United States history, especially the monumental strides in engineering, commerce, and socio-cultural shifts between the War of 181...

"Part historical narrative, part genealogical detective work," this is t he true story of an African American family in Maryland over six generations ( Library Journal).Using diaries, court records, legal documents, books, paintings, photographs, and oral histories, From Slave Ship to Harvard traces a family—from the colonial period and the American Revolution through the Civil War to Harvard and finally today—forming a unique nar...

Here in one omnibus edition are Booker T. Washington's most important books. Washington was constantly, and often bitterly, criticized by his contemporaries for being too conciliatory to whites and not concerned enough about civil rights. It would not be until after his death that the world would find out that he had indeed worked a great deal for civil rights anonymously behind the scenes. Up from Slavery is one of the most influential biographies ever written. On one level it is the life...

The former deputy mayor of New York City tells the story of the city's comeback after 9/11, offering lessons in resiliency under the most trying of circumstances, and a model for the rejuvenation of any city.Deputy Mayor Daniel L. Doctoroff led New York's dramatic and unexpected economic resurgence after the September 11 terrorist attacks. With Mayor Michael Bloomberg, he developed a remarkably ambitious five-borough economic development plan to not only recover fr...

An essay collection highlighting guiding principles, containing 30 works from the contemporary Philadelphia radio series, and 30 from the 1950s original.This I Believe is an international project engaging people in writing, sharing, and discussing the core values that guide their daily lives. And it all started in Philadelphia more than seven decades ago with a local radio series that became an international sensation.This book features thirty essa...

During the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers’ Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country’s shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states. Little-known authors-many of whom would later become celebrated literary figures-were commissioned to write these important books. John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ral...

The story of the upstate New York home where the orator and former slave lived with family, houseguests, and fugitives on the Underground Railroad.Despite living through one of our nation's most bitter and terrifying times, Frederick Douglass and his wife, Anna, raised five children in a loving home with flower, fruit, and vegetable gardens in Rochester, New York for twenty-five years beginning in 1848. While Frederick traveled widely, fighting for the freedom and ...

An in-depth look at the iconic African American scholar's life in—and his contributions to—our nation's capital.The discipline of black history has its roots firmly planted at 1538 Ninth Street, Northwest, in Washington, DC. The Victorian row house in "Black Broadway" was once the modest office-home of Carter G. Woodson. The home was also the headquarters of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). Woodson dedicated his entire lif...

T?he struggle for black freedom and equality is a legacy that belongs to all Americans. In the twentieth century, this story of triumph over injustice inspired the spread of democracy around the world. From the villages of Eastern Europe to the cities of Asia and Africa, people have found new strength, hope and courage in the ways African Americans defeated Jim Crow segregation in the United States. Liberty and equality required the sacrifices of many African Americans who lived and made a...

This history of the nation's first orphanage for African American children, founded in New York City nearly two centuries ago.This book uncovers the history of the Colored Orphan Asylum, founded in 1836. Through three wars, two major financial panics, a devastating fire during the 1863 Draft Riots, several epidemics, waves of racial prejudice, and severely strained budgets, it cared for orphaned, neglected, and delinquent children, eventually receiving financial su...

African-American life through the centuries in this Hudson Valley town, from Peekskill's official historian—includes maps and photos.The first African Americans of Peekskill had no choice in making the Hudson Valley their home. What they did choose was what kind of home to make of it. Those choices would shape both their community and the course of American history.Meet the African American sharpshooter who helped swing the balance of the American Revolutio...