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Jim
Crow America
A Documentary History
Edited by Catherine M. Lewis and J. Richard Lewis
Ideal resource on racism and
segregation in American life
"Historian
C. Lewis and educator J. R. Lewis have compiled this eminently
useful collection of primary source documents that will most
certainly be invaluable to any history student trying to understand
the complexities of Jim Crow segregation. Divided thematically
into five chapters, this volume features documents that demonstrate
the manner in which the US's apartheid system was invented,
built, lived, resisted, and finally dismantled--none of which
was an easy task. Clearly designed for classroom use, the
volume includes a time line, a list of Web resources, an annotated
bibliography, and even discussion questions--all of which
are a bonus to the extremely functional collection of documents.
Although many of the documents have been published previously,
such as the Emancipation Proclamation, many have not; never
have all these documents been published together. Most histories
of Jim Crow segregation have focused either on one region
or on a specific topic such as gender or law. This volume
endeavors to sample all and does so admirably. The editors
provide newspaper articles, letters, essays, political cartoons,
legal documents, and photographs from both sides of the divide
and from all around the nation; they flesh out Jim Crow's
strange career in a manner that will help students understand
the craft of history. A few typos are evident but do not distract
overall from the outstanding content. Summing Up: Essential.
Upper-level undergraduates through researchers/faculty."
—Choice (D. W. Bilal, University of Illinois
at Springfield)
The term “Jim Crow” has had multiple meanings
and a dark and complex past. It was first used in the early
nineteenth century. After the Civil War it referred to the
legal, customary, and often extralegal system that segregated
and isolated African Americans from mainstream American life.
In response to the increasing loss of their rights of citizenship
and the rising tide of violence, the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People was founded in 1909.
The federal government eventually took an active role in dismantling
Jim Crow toward the end of the Depression. But it wasn’t
until the Lyndon Johnson years and all the work that led up
to them that the end of Jim Crow finally came to pass.
This unique book provides readers with a wealth of primary
source materials from 1828 to 1980 that reveal how the Jim
Crow era affects how historians practice their craft. The
book is chronologically organized into five sections, each
of which focuses on a different historical period in the story
of Jim Crow: inventing, building, living, resisting, and dismantling.
Many of the fifty-six documents and eighteen images and cartoons,
many of which have not been published before, reveal something
significant about this subject or offer an unconventional
or unexpected perspective on this era. Some of the historical
figures whose words are included are Abraham Lincoln, Marcus
Garvey, Booker T. Washington, Richard Wright, Paul
Robeson, Langston Hughes, Adam Clayton Powell, and Marian
Anderson. The book also has an annotated bibliography, a list
of key players, a timeline, and key topics for consideration.
Catherine M. Lewis
is associate professor of history and coordinator of the Public
History Program at Kennesaw State University. She is the author
of a number of books, including, with J. Richard Lewis, Race,
Politics, and Memory: A Documentary History of the Little
Rock School Crisis, The Changing Face of Public
History, and Don’t Ask What I Shot: How Eisenhower’s
Love of Golf Helped Shape 1950s America.
J. Richard Lewis
is a desegregation consultant and former educator and academic
administrator and president of JRL Educational Consulting.
March
6 x 9, 280 pages, 18 photographs, index
$19.95 (s) paper
ISBN 978-1-55728-895-0 | 1-55728-895-X
$59.95 (s) unjacketed cloth
ISBN 978-1-55728-894-3 | 1-55728-894-1
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