The first-ever narrative history of African Americans told through their own letters Letters from Black America fills a literary and historical void by presenting the spectrum of African American experience in the most intimate way possible-through the heartfelt correspondence of those who lived through monumental changes and pivotal events, from the American Revolution to the war in Iraq, from slavery to the election of Obama.

Introduction xvii A Note on the Text xxi   PART I : Family   Hannah Grover to Her Son Cato, June 3, 1805 George Pleasant to Agnes Hobbs, September 6, 1833 Lucy Smith to Sarah Boon, May 1, 1842 Abream Scriven to Dinah Jones, September 19, 1858 James Tate to His Wife, February 4, 1863 Ann Valentine to Andrew Valentine, January 19, 1864 Mandy McCinny to George McCinny, May 11, 1864 Susanah Hart to Mark Hart, February 23, 1865 Martha Bruce to John Edward Bruce, September 23, 1887 Paul Laurence Dunbar to Matilda Dunbar, June 6, 1893 Matilda Dunbar to Paul Laurence Dunbar, June 8, 1895 Paul Laurence Dunbar to Matilda Dunbar, November 25, 1897 Matilda Dunbar to Paul Laurence Dunbar, July 5, 1901 Mary Church Terrell to Robert H. Terrell, July 9, 1902 Robert H. Terrell to Mary Church Terrell, Undated Robert H. Terrell to Mary Church Terrell, December 30, 1913 W.E.B. Du Bois to Yolande Du Bois, March 13, 1907 W.E.B. Du Bois to Yolande Du Bois, October 29, 1914 Dr. William R. R. Granger, Sr., to Son, October 8, 1911 Dr. William R. R. Granger, Sr., to W.R.R. Granger, Jr., September 30, 1914 Dr. A. T. Granger to Dr. W.R.R. Granger, Jr., August 5, 1917 Lester B. Granger to Dr. W.R.R. Granger, Jr., July 15, 1930 Lester B. Granger to Dr. W.R.R. Granger, Jr., February 23, 1932 Madam C. J. Walker to A’Lelia Walker, May 16, 1919 Grace Nail Johnson to James Weldon Johnson, June 19, 1929 Leigh Whipper to Dr. Ionia Whipper, September 8, 1930 Robert Murphy to Matilda Dunbar, October 30, 1933 Ralph Ellison to Ida Millsap Ellison, April 20, 1937 Ralph Ellison to Ida Millsap Ellison, August 30, 1937 The Watson Children to Justice James S. Watson, Undated, 1937 James L. Watson to Justice James S. Watson, May 16, 1943 Doug Watson to Justice James S. Watson, September 29, 1947 Martin Luther King, Jr., to Martin Luther King, Sr., June 15, 1944 Julia Davis Rustin to Bayard Rustin, April 15, 1946 Martin Luther King, Jr., to Alberta King, October 1948 Edith Braithwaite to William Stanley Braithwaite, December 27, 1954 William Stanley Braithwaite to Edith Braithwaite, September 27, 1956 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., to Hazel Scott Powell, October 11, 1957 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to Coretta Scott King, October 26, 1960 Medgar Evers to Myrlie Evers and Children, November 27, 1962 Urnestine Lewis to David Levering Lewis, September 7, 1963 Derrick Bell, Jr., to Derrick Bell, Sr., July 26, 1967 Joseph F. Beam to Mom and Dad, May 29, 1976 Walter J. Leonard to Angela Leonard, April 16, 1991 Walter J. Leonard to Mamie K. Singleton, November 10, 1992 Queen Esther Gupton Cheatham Jones to Renée Cheatham Neblett, March 1993 Queen Esther Gupton Cheatham Jones to Renée Cheatham Neblett, Undated, circa 1996 Thomas Allen Harris to Lyle Ashton Harris, Undated, 1998 Michael Leon Thomas to Mom and Dad, October 12, 2000 Walter J. Leonard to Angela M. Leonard, May 12, 2005   PART II : Courtship and Romance   Nicey E. Bush to Harvey Moore, September 14, 1869 Harvey Moore to Nicey E. Bush, October 26, 1869 Harvey Moore to Nicey E. Bush, December 20, 1869 Paul Laurence Dunbar to Alice Ruth Moore, March 7, 1897 Roscoe Conkling Bruce to Clara Burrill, January 3, 1903 Clara Burrill to Roscoe Conkling Bruce, Undated, 1903 Roscoe Conkling Bruce to Clara Burrill, January 31, 1903 Roscoe Conkling Bruce to Clara Burrill, February 19, [1903] Dr. James Arthur Kennedy to A’Lelia Walker, December 8, 1921 Dr. Henry Arthur Callis to Myra Colson, December 24, 1925 Dr. Henry Arthur Callis to Myra Colson, January 7, 1926 Robert Keyes to Hattie Haynes, April 15, 1928 Fredi Washington to Lawrence Brown, June 22, 1932 Lawrence Brown to Fredi Washington, Undated Fredi Washington to Lawrence Brown, September 29, 1934 Charles Drew to Minnie Lenore Robbins, April 9, 1939 Charles Drew to Minnie Lenore Robbins, 1939 Charles Drew to Minnie Lenore Robbins, April 21, 1939 Martin Luther King, Jr., to Coretta Scott, July 18, 1952 Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., to Coretta Scott King, February 14, 1957 Booker T. Washington III to Joyce Dodson Washington, February 4, 1968 Walter D. Broadnax to Angel Wheelock Marshall, March 28, 1984 Francesca Momplaisir to Nnabu Gogoh, May 8, 1999 Nnabu Gogoh to Francesca Momplaisir, June 10, 2000 Nnabu Gogoh to Francesca Momplaisir, September 28, 2000   PART III : Politics and Social Justice   Phillis Wheatley to Rev. Samson Occom, February 11, 1774 Benjamin Banneker to Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, August 19, 1791 Frederick Douglass to Captain Thomas Auld, September 3, 1848 Fugitive Slaves to Enslaved Brethren, November 5, 1850 Annie Davis to President Abraham Lincoln, August 25, 1864 Sojourner Truth to Rowland Johnson, November 17, 1864 Frederick Douglass to Readers, June 13, 1872 Whitefield McKinlay to Booker T. Washington, November 1, 1901 Booker T. Washington to Whitefield McKinlay, November 6, 1901 Booker T. Washington to Whitefield McKinlay, February 18, 1902 Ida B. Wells-Barnett to Anti-Lynching Bureau, January 1, 1902 Robert Smalls to Whitefield McKinlay, November 10, 1909 Robert Smalls to Whitefield McKinlay, September 12, 1912 W.E.B. Du Bois to President Woodrow Wilson, October 10, 1916 James Weldon Johnson to President Warren G. Harding, September 19, 1921 Arthur A. Schomburg to Wendell Dabney, December 12, 1933 Roy Wilkins to Eleanor Roosevelt, Undated, 1934 Walter White to Thurgood Marshall, March 1, 1935 Claude McKay to James Weldon Johnson, May 8, 1935 Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., to Eleanor Roosevelt, November 5, 1956 Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., to U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy, November 5, 1957 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to President John F. Kennedy, September 11, 1962 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to White Clergymen, April 16, 1963 James Baldwin to His Nephew James, 1963 Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., January 27, 1964 Shirley Du Bois to Langston Hughes, March 7, 1965 Jean Fairfax to Minnie and A. J. Lewis, July 23, 1965 U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke III to President Richard M. Nixon, March 27, 1969 U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke III to Secretary of State William P. Rogers, May 27, 1969 Bayard Rustin to Eldridge Cleaver, January 24, 1977 Bayard Rustin to Mayor Edward I. Koch, February 25, 1985 Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr., to Jodi Kantor, March 2007 Toni Morrison to U.S. Senator Barack Obama, January 28, 2008 AliceWalker to President-Elect Barack Obama, November 5, 2008   PART IV: Education and the Art of Scholarship   Booker T. Washington to Emily Howland, Undated W.E.B. Du Bois to Harvard University, October 29, 1887 W.E.B. Du Bois to the John F. Slater Fund, March 10, 1893 Booker T. Washington to W.E.B. Du Bois, July 15, 1902 W.E.B. Du Bois to Vernealia Fereira, December 14, 1904 John Hope to W.E.B. Du Bois, January 17, 1910 W.E.B. Du Bois to John Hope, January 22, 1910 Alice Dunbar to John Edward Bruce, March 23, 1914 James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey to Sadie Peterson Delaney, March 14, 1924 John Hope to W.E.B. Du Bois, November 15, 1924 W.E.B. Du Bois to John Hope, March 25, 1925 W.E.B. Du Bois to Bureau of Education Commissioner William John Cooper, December 18, 1929 Carter G. Woodson to John Hope, December 24, 1931 Alain Locke to James Weldon Johnson, March 7, 1934 Countee Cullen to James Weldon Johnson, June 7, 1934 Shirley Graham to W.E.B. Du Bois, June 23, 1934 Sterling A. Brown to W.E.B. Du Bois, January 29, 1935 Horace Mann Bond to Arthur A. Schomburg, September 19, 1936 Arthur A. Schomburg to Jacob Drachler, January 10, 1938 Kenneth B. Clark to Mr. Swift, September 17, 1940 Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., to Rev. Hugh Burr, March 16, 1956 Jean Fairfax to U.S. Education Commissioner Francis Keppel, March 6, 1967 Derrick Bell, Jr., to Office for Civil Rights Staff, August 15, 1967 U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke III to President Richard M. Nixon, June 25, 1969 Derrick Bell, Jr., to Justice Thurgood Marshall, October 2, 1969 Justice Thurgood Marshall to Derrick Bell, Jr., October 1969 Kenneth B. Clark to The New York Times, August 7, 1979 Derrick Bell, Jr., to Dean Robert Clark, April 9, 1990 Walter J. Leonard to Angela M. Leonard, July 28, 1997 Walter J. Leonard to Angela M. Leonard, November 6, 2002 Rev. Bernard Chris Dorsey to Walter Broadnax, April 17, 2007 Dr. Frank L. Douglas to Claude Canizares, MIT Vice President for Research, June 1, 2007 Dr. Frank L. Douglas to His MIT Colleagues and Friends, June 1, 2007   PART V: War   John Boston to His Wife, January 12, 1862 Lewis Douglass to Amelia Loguen, July 20, 1863 James Henry Gooding to President Abraham Lincoln, September 28, 1863 Nancy Allcorn to Missouri Provost Marshall, May 16, 1864 George Rodgers et al. to President Abraham Lincoln, August 1864 • Roanoke Island, North Carolina, Freedmen to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, March 9, 1865 M. W. Saddler to The Freeman Newspaper, September 1899 Patrick Mason to Editor of The Gazette Newspaper, November 19, 1899 Unnamed Soldier to New York Age Editor, May 17, 1900 James A. Davis to Pecola Johnson Davis, October 1, 1918 Canute Frankson to a Dear Friend, July 6, 1937 Canute Frankson to “My Dear,” July 23, 1937 Canute Frankson to “Dearest,” April 13, 1938 Leigh Whipper to Benjamin O. Davis, January 28, 1941 Mr. and Mrs. James S. Watson to Private James L. Watson, January 23, 1943 Lenwood Waller to Pauline Perry, May 7, 1945 Bayard Rustin to Local Board No. 63, New York City, November 16, 1943 A. Philip Randolph to Bayard Rustin, April 17, 1944 A. Philip Randolph to Secretary of Defense George C. Marshall, October 30, 1950 Lester B. Granger to Navy Secretary Dan A. Kimball, October 24, 1952 U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke III to President Richard M. Nixon, October 23, 1969 U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke III to President Richard M. Nixon, May 11, 1970 Gen. Colin L. Powell to the Students of East Pike Elementary School, August 22, 1991 Gen. Colin L. Powell to Friends of Sgt. Maj. William Harrington, March 26, 1994 Capt. Eric Mitchell to Friends and Family, 2003 Maj. David Scott Harris to Lois D. Cherry, March 23, 2003 Lois D. Cherry to Maj. David Scott Harris, March 23, 2003 Maj. David Scott Harris to Lois D. Cherry, April 3, 2003 Commanding Officer Craig S. Prather, PE, MBA, to My Dalton Family, December 25, 2006   PART VI : Art and Culture   Phillis Wheatley to Gen. George Washington, October 26, 1775 Paul Laurence Dunbar to Alice Ruth Moore, April 17, 1895 Alice Ruth Moore to Paul Laurence Dunbar, May 7, 1895 Paul Laurence Dunbar to Booker T. Washington, January 23, 1902 Claude A. Barnett to Jean Toomer, April 23, 1923 Jean Toomer to Claude A. Barnett, April 29, 1923 Countee Cullen to Langston Hughes, May 14, 1924 Countee Cullen to Langston Hughes, October 8, 1924 W.E.B. Du Bois to Roland Hayes, November 30, 1925 Roland Hayes to W.E.B. Du Bois, December 16, 1925 Alain Locke to A’Lelia Walker, October 12, 1928 Zora Neale Hurston to Langston Hughes, December 10, 1929 Jean Toomer to James Weldon Johnson, July 11, 1930 James Weldon Johnson to Jean Toomer, July 26, 1930 Langston Hughes to James Weldon Johnson, August 14, 1931 Zora Neale Hurston to James Weldon Johnson, April 16, 1934 Zora Neale Hurston to Dorothy West, Undated Claude McKay to James Weldon Johnson, May 31, 1935 Ralph Ellison to Langston Hughes, August 24, 1936 Claude McKay to James Weldon Johnson, April 2, 1937 Ralph Ellison to Langston Hughes, April 27, 1937 Arthur A. Schomburg to Langston Hughes, January 3, 1938 Arthur A. Schomburg to Caterina Jarboro, March 21, 1938 Richard Wright to Antonio Frasconi, November 1944 Richard Wright to David L. Cohn, The Atlantic Monthly, May 1945 Langston Hughes to John Johnson, October 14, 1945 Ralph Ellison to Langston Hughes, August 25, 1947 Ralph Ellison to Kenneth Burke, August 25, 1947 Fredi Washington to Darr Smith, August 2, 1949 James Hubert “Eubie” Blake to Flournoy E. Miller, October 30, 1949 Bobby Short to Fredi Washington, May 18, 1952 Langston Hughes to Arna Bontemps, February 18, 1953 Arna Bontemps to Langston Hughes, March 4, 1953 Ralph Ellison to Mrs. Turner, March 31, 1953 James Hubert “Eubie” Blake to Flournoy E. Miller, October 9, 1954 Josephine Baker to Langston Hughes, December 23, 1964 Alice Walker to Derrick Bell, Jr., May 20, 1986 William T. Williams to David C. Driskell, October 5, 1988 Howardena Pindell to Charles Reeve, editor of Art Papers, May 30, 2002   PART VII : Across the Diaspora   Mack Nichols et al. to Rev. Alexander Crummel, October 4, 1865 George T. Downing to Alexander Crummel, May 18, 1897 Alexander Crummel to John W. Cromwell, June 15, 1897 John R. Archer to John Edward Bruce, January 17, 1914 James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey to Arthur A. Schomburg, May 28, 1918 James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey to John Edward Bruce, June 28, 1922 J. E. Casely Hayford to John Edward Bruce, November 24, 1923 W.E.B. Du Bois to Liberian President Honorable Charles Dunbar Burgess King, January 21, 1924 Marcus Garvey to Negroes of the World, February 10, 1925 W.E.B. Du Bois to Harvey S. Firestone, October 26, 1925 Louis-Marie Dantès Bellegarde to Arthur A. Schomburg, March 11, 1932 Arthur A. Schomburg to Louis-Marie Dantès Bellegarde, May 3, 1934 Marcus Garvey to Norton Cruickshank, June 10, 1937 Fredi Washington to Ademola Johnson, September 23, 1949 WilliamAlphaeus Hunton, Jr., to Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah, May 4, 1962 Charles Adjei to Lois Okudzeto, June 2003   Acknowledgments Index