MHL will be closed on Thursday, June 19th in observance of Juneteenth. When the library is open, you can check out one of these nonfiction books about the history of Juneteenth, Reconstruction, and the enduring spirit of Black culture in America. And don’t forget about Andover’s Juneteenth celebration on Saturday, June 21st.
The accident of color : a story of race in Reconstruction
The award-winning author of A History of Future Cities documents how the citizenship privileges of mixed-race urbanites in 19th-century New Orleans and Charleston were swept away by the political backlashes of the Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras.
The broken king : a memoir
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The author of Man Gone Down depicts the lives of the men in his family spanning the past 150 years of American history from his non-practicing pharmacist grandfather, to his own sons growing up in Brooklyn.
The author of Man Gone Down depicts the lives of the men in his family spanning the past 150 years of American history from his non-practicing pharmacist grandfather, to his own sons growing up in Brooklyn.
The failed promise : Reconstruction, Frederick Douglass, and the impeachment of Andrew Johnson
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Drawing on letters, articles and the most important African American newspaper of the time, the author recreates the conflicts that brought Frederick Douglass and the wider Black community to reject President Andrew Johnson and call for a guilty verdict in his impeachment trial. Illustrations.
Drawing on letters, articles and the most important African American newspaper of the time, the author recreates the conflicts that brought Frederick Douglass and the wider Black community to reject President Andrew Johnson and call for a guilty verdict in his impeachment trial. Illustrations.
I saw death coming : a history of terror and survival in the war against Reconstruction
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In I Saw Death Coming, Kidada E. Williams offers a breakthrough account of the much-debated Reconstruction period, transporting readers into the daily existence of formerly enslaved people building hope-filled new lives. Drawing on overlooked sources and bold new readings of the archives, Williams offers a revelatory and, in some cases, minute-by-minute record of nighttime raids and Ku Klux Klan strikes. And she deploys cutting-edge scholarship on trauma to consider how the effects of these attacks would linger for decades--indeed, generations--to come.
In I Saw Death Coming, Kidada E. Williams offers a breakthrough account of the much-debated Reconstruction period, transporting readers into the daily existence of formerly enslaved people building hope-filled new lives. Drawing on overlooked sources and bold new readings of the archives, Williams offers a revelatory and, in some cases, minute-by-minute record of nighttime raids and Ku Klux Klan strikes. And she deploys cutting-edge scholarship on trauma to consider how the effects of these attacks would linger for decades--indeed, generations--to come.
Jubilee : recipes from two centuries of African American cooking
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Drawing from historical texts and rare African-American cookbooks, a collection of 125 recipes takes readers into the world of African-American cuisine made by enslaved master chefs, free caterers and black entrepreneurs and culinary stars that goes far beyond soul food.
Drawing from historical texts and rare African-American cookbooks, a collection of 125 recipes takes readers into the world of African-American cuisine made by enslaved master chefs, free caterers and black entrepreneurs and culinary stars that goes far beyond soul food.
Of blood and sweat : Black lives and the making of White power and wealth
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Going back in time to expose the roots of the struggle for racial equity and justice, from pre-colonial Africa through post-Civil War America, this researched and documented book offers valuable insight into our understanding of black history and the story of America.
Going back in time to expose the roots of the struggle for racial equity and justice, from pre-colonial Africa through post-Civil War America, this researched and documented book offers valuable insight into our understanding of black history and the story of America.
On Juneteenth
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In this intricately woven tapestry of American history, dramatic family chronicle, and searing episodes of memoir, the descendant of enslaved people brought to Texas in the 1850s, recounts the origins of Juneteenth and explores the legacies of the holiday that remain with us.
In this intricately woven tapestry of American history, dramatic family chronicle, and searing episodes of memoir, the descendant of enslaved people brought to Texas in the 1850s, recounts the origins of Juneteenth and explores the legacies of the holiday that remain with us.
A question of freedom : the families who challenged slavery from the nation's founding to the Civil War
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The story of the longest and most complex legal challenge to slavery in American history. Piecing together evidence once dismissed in court and buried in the archives, William Thomas tells an intricate and intensely human story of the enslaved families (the Butlers, Queens, Mahoneys, and others), their lawyers (among them a young Francis Scott Key), and the slaveholders who fought to defend slavery, beginning with the Jesuit priests who held some of the largest plantations in the nation and founded a college at Georgetown.
The story of the longest and most complex legal challenge to slavery in American history. Piecing together evidence once dismissed in court and buried in the archives, William Thomas tells an intricate and intensely human story of the enslaved families (the Butlers, Queens, Mahoneys, and others), their lawyers (among them a young Francis Scott Key), and the slaveholders who fought to defend slavery, beginning with the Jesuit priests who held some of the largest plantations in the nation and founded a college at Georgetown.
Stony the road : Reconstruction, white supremacy, and the rise of Jim Crow
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The NAACP Image Award-winning creator of The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross chronicles America's post-Civil War struggle for racial equality and the violent counterrevolution that resubjugated black Americans throughout the 20th century.
The NAACP Image Award-winning creator of The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross chronicles America's post-Civil War struggle for racial equality and the violent counterrevolution that resubjugated black Americans throughout the 20th century.
The second founding : how the Civil War and Reconstruction remade the constitution
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The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Fiery Trial presents a timely history of the constitutional changes that built or compromised equality within America’s foundation, documenting alarming parallels between the Jim Crow era and the present day.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Fiery Trial presents a timely history of the constitutional changes that built or compromised equality within America’s foundation, documenting alarming parallels between the Jim Crow era and the present day.
Somewhere toward freedom : Sherman's march and the story of America's largest emancipation
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Details General William T. Sherman's 1864 march through Atlanta to Savannah, highlighting its impact on the Civil War and the self-emancipation of enslaved people who joined his army, addressing the initial Reconstruction efforts and the challenges facedby newly freed individuals amidst ongoing racism and opposition
Details General William T. Sherman's 1864 march through Atlanta to Savannah, highlighting its impact on the Civil War and the self-emancipation of enslaved people who joined his army, addressing the initial Reconstruction efforts and the challenges facedby newly freed individuals amidst ongoing racism and opposition
Watermelon & red birds : a cookbook for Juneteenth and Black celebrations
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In this collection of recipes and essays that both celebrate and investigate Juneteenth, a critically acclaimed food writer presents 75 delicious dishes that are simple, victory-garden-driven and approachable.
In this collection of recipes and essays that both celebrate and investigate Juneteenth, a critically acclaimed food writer presents 75 delicious dishes that are simple, victory-garden-driven and approachable.