African-American History

<p><span class="deck">One woman’s journey into her family’s past uncovers a story that affects every American.</span></p>

<p><span class="deck">American jazz musicians once enjoyed a freedom and respect in France’s capital that they could never win at home. Landmarks of that era still abound.</span></p>

<p><span class="deck">John Hope Franklin, the greatest historian of the black experience in America, speaks of what has changed during his long life, and what has not. </span></p>

<p><span class="deck">Politics</span></p>

<p>From <em>The Souls of Black Folk</em> to <em>The New Jim Crow</em>, these texts are essential for anyone trying to understand the black experience in America. </p>

<p><span class="deck">It was the nation’s biggest business, it was as well-organized as a Detroit assembly line, and it was here to stay. It was slavery. David Brion Davis, a lifelong student of the institution, tells how he discovered—and then set about teaching—its vast significance.</span></p>

<p>A new Greensboro museum celebrates the courage of four young black men 50 years ago.</p>

<p>By the end of the Civil War, nearly 200,000 African-Americans had fought for the Union cause and freedom.</p>

<p>He was a lieutenant in the Army of the United States: he saw no reason to sit in the back of the bus</p>

<p>J.R. Clifford fought his real battles in the courtroom</p>

<p>The noted writer and educator tells of his boyhood in the West Virginia town of Piedmont, where African Americans were second-class citizens, but family pride ran deep.</p>

<p>When the first African-Americans to crew a U.S. warship sailed into the war-tossed North Atlantic, they couldn't have known it would take 50 years to gain honor in their own country.</p>

<p>During the World War I, American jazz bands played at hospitals, rest camps, and other venues, delighting doughboys and Europeans alike.</p>

<p>For most of the 1800s, whites in blackface performed in widely popular minstrel shows, creating racist stereotypes that endured for more than a century.</p>

<p>Jewish philanthropist Julius Rosenwald built almost 5000 schools for African-Americans and helped educate hundreds of thousands of students.</p>

<p>As General Granger read the announcement in the summer of 1865 that slavery had ended, the celebration began. The date would go down in history — June 19th, soon shortened to Juneteenth.</p>

<p>The ex-slave and investigative journalist spent a lifetime fighting against lynching and segregation — but also for voting rights for African-American women. </p>

<p>The enduring legacy of the Civil Rights Movement lies not in soundbites from its most charismatic leaders, but in the impact it had on the lives of ordinary people.</p>

<p>Jordan’s publisher recalls working with the civil rights and corporate leader, who died on March 1.</p>

<p>First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s evolving relationship with African Americans challenged her beliefs about herself and the world she had been raised in.  </p>

<p>Dubbed the “AAA guide for black people,” the underground travel manual encapsulated how automobile travel expanded — and limited — African American lives under Jim Crow.</p>

<p>The brutal murder of hundreds of African-American soldiers at Fort Pillow had a profound effect on Northern sentiment during and after the Civil War.</p>

<p>Her owner planned to take her from California to slave-holding Texas, so Biddy Mason went to court. After a dangerous drama, she won her freedom.</p>

<p>Col. Harry Stewart downed three advanced Nazi fighter planes in one day, then surprised the Air Force when he and his Tuskegee teammates won the first "top gun" competition. </p>