Legacy: Treasures of Black History

The more than 150 historic items showcased here include documents, letters, images, and artifacts, many never before published. Readers will find 18th-century maps of Africa; the pincushion of Elizabeth Keckley, Mrs. Lincoln's seamstress; Depression-era images by Robert M. McNeil; and a Langston Hughes letter in which he first shares his famous poem I, Too, Sing America. Rare photographs show a unique daguerreotype of Frederick Douglass in profile and the Fisk Jubilee Singers, circa 1880. Objects include a bell of Sally Hemmings, Thomas Jefferson's slave and companion, and NAACP membership buttons from the 1960s. More than two dozen prominent Black scholars and activists offer expert insights on the collection, on subjects ranging from traditional African societies to 21st-century art and politics, making this book as definitive as it is beautiful—a priceless resource that will inform and fascinate serious students and casual readers alike.

From its Introduction by the revered and distinguished John Hope Franklin to the bibliography and extensive index that complete it, Legacy represents a major new contribution to African-American history. The Black experience and its impact on our nation's culture and character come alive in twelve chapters that sweep from ancient Africa and the slave trade to such key eras as the Civil War, Emancipation, and Reconstruction; the Harlem Renaissance and the Jim Crow Era; and the modern Civil Rights and Black Power/Black Arts movements.

The more than 150 historic items showcased here include documents, letters, images, and artifacts, many never before published. Readers will find 18th-century maps of Africa; the pincushion of Elizabeth Keckley, Mrs. Lincoln's seamstress; Depression-era images by Robert M. McNeil; and a Langston Hughes letter in which he first shares his famous poem I, Too, Sing America. Rare photographs show a unique daguerreotype of Frederick Douglass in profile and the Fisk Jubilee Singers, circa 1880. Objects include a bell of Sally Hemmings, Thomas Jefferson's slave and companion, and NAACP membership buttons from the 1960s. More than two dozen prominent Black scholars and activists offer expert insights on the collection, on subjects ranging from traditional African societies to 21st-century art and politics, making this book as definitive as it is beautiful—a priceless resource that will inform and fascinate serious students and casual readers alike.

Thomas C. Battle, director of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University, is a lecturer, consultant, and author who co-edited Black Bibliophiles and Collectors: Preservers of Black History.

Donna M. Wells is curator of Prints and Photographs at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University. She has published numerous reviews and articles on the history of the African American image.

John Hope Franklin is the James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of History, and former Professor of Legal History in the Law School at Duke University. He is recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His books include the award-winning From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans.