Letters from Black America

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