“The Freedmen's Book”, written by Lydia Maria Child, is an important socio-cultural phenomenon of the nineteenth century. It is a text that exemplifies the rich intellectual and discursive history of the African American experience within a predominantly white society. This work provides valuable insight into the struggles experienced by freedmen during this period and offers readers an understanding of how African American culture adapted to...

"Autobiography of Booker T. Washington detailing his personal experiences in working to rise from the position of a slave child during the Civil War, to the difficulties and obstacles he overcame to get an education at the new Hampton University, to his work establishing vocational schools -- most notably the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama -- to help black people and other disadvantaged minorities learn useful, marketable skills and work to pull themselves,...

The Story of an African Farm (1883) is a novel by South African political activist and writer Olive Schreiner. Her first published novel, The Story of an African Farm was a bestseller upon its release despite being criticized for its portrayal of controversial social, religious, and political themes. Part Bildungsroman, part philosophical fiction, the novel is recognized as a groundbreaking work for its exploration of feminism, atheism, and the influence...

The stories in The Conjure Woman were Charles W. Chesnutt's first great literary success, and since their initial publication in 1899 they have come to be seen as some of the most remarkable works of African American literature from the Emancipation through the Harlem Renaissance.