Juneteenth: the History of Reconstruction and the Celebration of Emancipation

On Juneteenth

by Gordon-Reed, Annette

Book - 2021

Annette Gordon-Reed weaves together her family's experiences as Black Texans together with state and national history to tell the origins of Juneteenth an...Show more Annette Gordon-Reed weaves together her family's experiences as Black Texans together with state and national history to tell the origins of Juneteenth and dispel myths about Texas. She describes how Juneteenth started as a celebration in Black churches and then moved into public spaces such as Emancipation Park in Houston. On Juneteenth describes the establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau and the building of schools for the newly freed as well as the backlash Black Texans faced from their former enslavers. Gordon-Reed balances a critical stance on Texas' slaveholding history with nostalgia about her home state. Show less

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Four Hundred Souls

A Community History of African America, 1619-2019

Book - 2021

"A compendium of essays and poems chronicling 400 years of Black American history. In order to tell the story of Black America, acclaimed scholar Ke...Show more "A compendium of essays and poems chronicling 400 years of Black American history. In order to tell the story of Black America, acclaimed scholar Kendi and award-winning historian Blain bring together 80 Black “historians, journalists, activists, philosophers, novelists, political analysts, lawyers, anthropologists, curators, theologians, sociologists, essayists, economists, educators, and cultural critics” and 10 poets. -Kirkus Reviews Show less

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Watermelon & Red Birds

A Cookbook for Juneteenth and Black Celebrations

by Taylor, Nicole A.

Book - 2022

Food is a central part of Junteenth celebrations and this cookbook offers over 75 recipes that remix traditional African American dishes with new flavors....Show more Food is a central part of Junteenth celebrations and this cookbook offers over 75 recipes that remix traditional African American dishes with new flavors. Taylor also includes a resource guide to BIPOC-owned products to use at your next Juneteenth celebration! Show less

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A Question of Freedom

The Families Who Challenged Slavery From the Nation's Founding to the Civil War

by Thomas, William G.

Book - 2020

Even before the Dred Scott case, enslaved people filed "Freedom Suits" or civil suits against their slaveholders to assert their right to freedo...Show more Even before the Dred Scott case, enslaved people filed "Freedom Suits" or civil suits against their slaveholders to assert their right to freedom through being a descendent of a free ancestor. A Question of Freedom looks at the specific cases of the Queen family of the White Marsh plantation and other African Americans who sought to make a legal case against slavery in Maryland and other states. Show less

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Help Me to Find My People

The African American Search for Family Lost in Slavery

by Williams, Heather Andrea

Book - 2012

In the slave trade, it was commonplace for children, relatives, and spouses to be separated and sold to plantations in different states. During Reconstruc...Show more In the slave trade, it was commonplace for children, relatives, and spouses to be separated and sold to plantations in different states. During Reconstruction, African Americans searched for family through the use of 'information wanted' ads in Black-owned newspapers and letters to those who knew their relatives. Williams uses these written accounts to tell a story of loss, grief, trauma, and hope experienced by newly emancipated African Americans as they tried to recover lost relatives and build chosen families. Show less

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High on the Hog

A Culinary Journey From Africa to America

by Harris, Jessica B.

Book - 2012

Harris shares her research and personal connection to the foodways of the African Diaspora across centuries in the U.S. in High on the Hog. She describes ...Show more Harris shares her research and personal connection to the foodways of the African Diaspora across centuries in the U.S. in High on the Hog. She describes how food created pathways of entrepreneurship and independence for African Americans and includes profiles of prominent African Americans in culinary history. In addition, Harris gives her own story and recipes. This book has been made into a Netflix docuseries by the same name. Show less

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Make Good the Promises

Reclaiming Reconstruction and Its Legacies

Book - 2021

"This concise yet powerful companion volume to an upcoming exhibit at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Museum directors C...Show more "This concise yet powerful companion volume to an upcoming exhibit at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Museum directors Conwill and Gardullo gather an impressive line-up of historians and curators, including Eric Foner and Kimberlé Crenshaw, to document the brief period of post–Civil War uplift that delivered citizenship, voting rights, and, in some cases, land to newly liberated African Americans. The contributors also detail how so-called Redeemers worked feverishly to claw back gains that Congress granted, resulting in Blacks’ hopes for true equality being dashed by “terror, racist propaganda, and political malfeasance.” -Publishers Weekly Show less

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Stony the Road

Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow

by Gates, Henry Louis

Book - 2019

"In this work (its title a lyric from the song "Lift Every Voice and Sing"), the author asserts that this era is fundamental to understan...Show more "In this work (its title a lyric from the song "Lift Every Voice and Sing"), the author asserts that this era is fundamental to understanding the current period of racist backlash following Barack Obama's presidency. Borrowing heavily from historians such as Eric Foner and David W. Blight, Gates covers the basics of Reconstruction, the pseudoscience of racism in the field of anthropology, lynching and racial violence across America, and widespread commercial use of stereotypes such as Sambo and Aunt Jemima, and how African Americans continually strived to disprove this onslaught of bigotry through education, literature, art, music, and political organizing." -Library Journal Show less

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South to Freedom

Runaway Slaves to Mexico and the Road to the Civil War

by Baumgartner, Alice

Book - 2020

Many people of African descent escaped to freedom through a "southern Underground Railroad" to Mexico. Today, Mascogos, the descendants of Blac...Show more Many people of African descent escaped to freedom through a "southern Underground Railroad" to Mexico. Today, Mascogos, the descendants of Black Seminoles celebrate a version of Juneteenth called Dia de los Negroes in Nacimiento, a village in Mexico's Coahuila State. In South to Freedom, Baumgartner chronicles why Mexico abolished slavery in 1837 and the conflict between its antislavery policies and the Fugitive Slave Acts of the United States of America. Show less

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The War Before the War

Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America's Soul From the Revolution to the Civil War

by Delbanco, Andrew

Book - 2018

“ ...fugitive slaves pushed the nation toward confronting the truth about itself. They incited conflict in the streets, the courts, the press, the halls o...Show more “ ...fugitive slaves pushed the nation toward confronting the truth about itself. They incited conflict in the streets, the courts, the press, the halls of Congress, and perhaps most important in the minds and hearts of Americans who had been oblivious to their plight. This manifold conflict—under way long before the first shots were fired in the Civil War—was the war before the war.” ― Andrew Delbanco, The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America's Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War Show less

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Forever Free

The Story of Emancipation and Reconstruction

by Foner, Eric

Book - 2005

This books uses "visual essays" by Joshua Brown and historical essays by Eric Foner to tell the story of slavery, Emancipation, and Reconstructi...Show more This books uses "visual essays" by Joshua Brown and historical essays by Eric Foner to tell the story of slavery, Emancipation, and Reconstruction. Their efforts combine to show the ways in which history is as much about the present as it is about the past. Show less

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