The Progression of Race in the United States and Canada: Treating of the Great Advancement of the Colored Race.
Chicago: Atwell Printing and Binding Co., 1907. 540pp., including fifty-six plates. Original blue cloth stamped in black with oval engraved portrait of Sojourner Truth inset on front cover. Edges and corners scuffed, moderate staining and soiling, spine sunned. Front hinge cracked, rear hinge tender, dampstain to fore-edge of first several leaves, light overall toning. Good. Item #4378
An elaborately-produced compendium of biographical entries of important African-American men and women, short histories of Black-owned businesses and institutions, and brief passages on subjects important to the African-American community in the early 20th century, complemented with over fifty plates of mostly photographic portraits but also images of important African-American institutions. Among the hundreds of men and women featured here, including the compiler Reverend D.D. Buck, are important historical figures such as Crispus Attucks, William Wells Brown, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Touissant L'Ouverture, Nat Turner, Booker T. Washington, and Phillis Wheatley. The numerous organizations featured include the National Association of Colored Women, the Great Afro-American Publishing House, the Chicago Record-Herald, the United Brothers of Friendship and Sisters of the Mysterious Ten, numerous churches and clubs, and more. The short articles feature focus on subjects such as "The Afro-American in Medical Science," "Higher Wages to Black Workmen," "Historical Facts About Colored People of Chicago," "Kentucky as a Business Center," "Our Leading Colored Citizens," "Petition of the Slaves in Boston," "The Black Soldiers' Efforts at Schooling," and much more. The compiler, Reverend D.D. Buck states that his purpose in publishing the book was "to bring before the public the business people of the race" and hopes "the work will bring about more union between the two races." He also states that his purpose was to focus on the "life of people who have exercised their ability and energy to make the best of life, who but for their strenuous efforts to aid themselves and the progression of the race, are only the average people of the race." The text is complete and continuous but irregularly paginated, with the plates often counting in the pagination but sometimes not. A scarce and important work of African American uplift.
Price: $850