Product Description: Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver, children of slaves, overcame seemingly insurmountable barriers to find renown in the fields of education and science. Both men retained strong personalities that occasionally came into conflict...read more

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Product Description: For the 50 years that followed its publication in 1901, Up from Slavery was the most widely known book written by an African American. The life of Booker T. Washington embodied the legendary rise of an American self-made man, and his autobiography gave voice for the first time to a vast group that had to pull itself up from nothing...read more

'Examines Nathan Young's 20-year academic career, during which he attempted to uphold W. E. B. Du Bois's vision of liberal arts education for blacks while balancing it with the agricultural/vocational education advocated by Booker T. Washington, adheringto high standards for black higher education despite powerful and entrenched opposition'--Provided by publisher.

Product Description: At a time when almost all African American college students attended black colleges, philosopher William Fontaine was the only black member of the University of Pennsylvania faculty—and quite possibly the only black member of any faculty in the Ivy League...read more

Knowledge about the American social environment in the transitional period following the Civil War is still incomplete in certain respects. Robert Moton, a respected black educator and a tireless promoter of racial harmony, has left us a memoir that provides a unique and valuable perspective on the progress in civil rights from the 1860s to the 1920s. It also describes the critical changes in American culture that gave blacks the opportunity to attain a social rank never before envisioned. Moreover, Moton's memoir is a detailed record of a great "success story". Despite being born to former slaves, he was able to secure the assistance of many kind and generous benefactors. He recounts his own spectacular rise from extreme poverty, to a highly admired position of authority, giving us an "inside look" as to how such a transformation is possible. Moton reached his zenith when he took up the leadership of the Tuskegee Institute after Booker T. Washington, and he was the one chiefly responsible for establishing the famous hospital for black war veterans. This chronicle of his life is extremely interesting and instructive, and is especially inspirational for young people, showing them the value of education, discipline, hard work, and cooperation. One area that has exceptional potential for study is the human capacity for creative adaptation to challenges. In regard to this, Finding a Way Out provides much information about the methods blacks used to obtain schooling and jobs in an American society that promised freedom and opportunity, but that in reality still had many restraints and restrictions. On a more personal level, Finding a Way Out documents the manner in which a young black man, armed with little more than determination and confidence, could reach one of the highest rungs of the success ladder in the United States, despite the odds. Robert Moton (1867-1940) was born in Virginia to former slaves. He received excellent vocational and liberal arts instruction at the Hampton Institute, a school with a military form of discipline. Moton, like many other members of his race, was concerned that blacks would not be able to sufficiently prove to whites that they were indeed capable of taking up their places as productive citizens, thus justifying their emancipation. He was also troubled about the misunderstandings that arose due to cultural differences. Consequently, he used every opportunity to articulate the distinctive and positive attributes of the various races he encountered, including Native Americans, Europeans and Asians.

Product Description: During a period when African-American education was at the epicenter of the civil rights movement, Thompson’s Journal documented the rapid growth of educational discrimination in the South despite significant increases in public school funding, providing irrefutable evidence that racially segregated public education was inherently discriminatory, hence, unconstitutional...read more

Product Description: Civil rights activist, writer, theologian, preacher, and educator, Benjamin Elijah Mays (1894–1984) was one of the most distinguished South Carolinians of the twentieth century. He influenced the lives of generations of students as a dean and professor of religion at Howard University and as longtime president of Morehouse College in Atlanta...read more

Product Description: Best known as an educator and early civil rights activist, Mary McLeod Bethune was the daughter of former slaves. After moving to Washington, D.C., in 1936, she organized and represented thousands of women with the National Council of Negro Women...read more

In this first full-length biography of Benjamin Mays (1894-1984), Randal Maurice Jelks chronicles the life of the man Martin Luther King Jr. called his "spiritual and intellectual father". Dean of the Howard University School of Religion, president of Morehouse College, and mentor to influential black leaders, Mays had a profound impact on the education of the leadership of the black church and of a generation of activists, policymakers, and educators. Jelks argues that Mays's ability to connect the message of Christianity with the responsibility to challenge injustice prepared the black church for its pivotal role in the civil rights movement. From Mays's humble origins in Epworth, South Carolina, through his doctoral education, his work with institutions such as the National Urban League, the NAACP, and the national YMCA movement, and his significant career in academia, Jelks creates a rich portrait of the man, the teacher, and the scholar. Benjamin Elijah Mays, Schoolmaster of the Movement is a powerful portrayal of one man's faith, thought, and mentorship in bringing American apartheid to an end.

This volume is the outgrowth of a series of articles, dealing with incidents in my life, which were published consecutively in the Outlook. While they were appearing in that magazine I was constantly surprised at the number of requests which came to me from all parts of the country, asking that the articles be permanently preserved in book form. I am most grateful to the Outlook for permission to gratify these requests.