In 1969, James Owens (1951–2016) made sports history as the first Black football player at Auburn University—a significant milestone that marked the beginning of the end of segregation in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Owens, a running back, was an exemplary athlete who battled racism and immense scrutiny during his time at Auburn. Yet his strength, his faith, and his family's support emboldened him to persevere and break the color barrier, which ultimately opened the door for other Bl...

In 1969, James Owens (1951–2016) made sports history as the first Black football player at Auburn University—a significant milestone that marked the beginning of the end of segregation in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Owens, a running back, was an exemplary athlete who battled racism and immense scrutiny during his time at Auburn. Yet his strength, his faith, and his family's support emboldened him to persevere and break the color barrier, which ultimately opened the door for other Bl...

More than fifty years ago, Nathaniel "Nate" Northington changed the face of sports as the first African American to play college football in the Southeastern Conference. When this trailblazing athlete stepped onto the field for the University of Kentucky vs. Ole Miss game on September 30, 1967, he played not only for his team, but for his best friend and roommate, Greg Page, whose tragic death pushed Northington further into the spotlight—and into the fight for equality.In Stil...

Stephen Foster's "My Old Kentucky Home" has been designated as the official state song and performed at the Kentucky Derby for decades. In light of the ongoing social justice movement to end racial inequality, many have questioned whether the song should be played at public events, given its inaccurate depiction of slavery in the state.In Slavery and Freedom in the Bluegrass State, editor Gerald L. Smith presents a collection of powerful essays that uncover the long-forgot...

Black college presidents in the era of segregation walked a tightrope. They were expected to educate black youth without sufficient state and federal funding. Yet in the African American community they were supposed to represent power and influence and to be outspoken advocates of civil rights, despite the continual risk of offending the white politicians on whom they were dependent for funding. The dilemmas they faced in balancing these conflicting demands have never been fully examined. ...

The story of African Americans in Kentucky is as diverse and vibrant as the state's general history. The work of more than 150 writers, The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia is an essential guide to the black experience in the Commonwealth.The encyclopedia includes biographical sketches of politicians and community leaders as well as pioneers in art, science, and industry. Kentucky's impact on the national scene is registered in an array of notable figures, such as wr...

In The Human Tradition in the New South, historian James C. Klotter brings together twelve biographical essays that explore the region's political, economic, and social development since the Civil War. Like all books in this series, these essays chronicle the lives of ordinary Americans whose lives and contributions help to highlight the great transformations that occurred in the South.With profiles ranging from Winnie Davis to Dizzy Dean, from Ralph David Abernathy to Harland Sand...

**The New York Times bestsellerA New York Times Notable and Critics’ Top Book of 2016Longlisted for the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for NonfictionOne of NPR's 10 Best Books Of 2016 Faced Tough Topics Head OnNPR's Book Concierge Guide To 2016’s Great ReadsSan Francisco Chronicle's Best of 2016: 100 recommended booksA Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2016Globe & Mail 100 Best of 2016“Formidable...

"The early days of the civil-rights movement come to life as never before" in this history from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author ( Wall Street Journal ).The young men and women at the heart of David Halberstam's brilliant and poignant The Children came together through Reverend James Lawson's workshops on nonviolence. Idealistic and determined, they showed unwavering bravery during the sit-ins at the Nashville lu...

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • An unprecedented examination of how news stories, editorials and photographs in the American press—and the journalists responsible for them—profoundly changed the nation’s thinking about civil rights in the South during the 1950s and ‘60s.Roberts and Klibanoff draw on private correspondence, notes from secret meetings, unpublished articles, and interviews to show how a dedicated cadre of newsmen—black and white—revealed to a nation its most ...

At the greatest moments and in the cruelest times, black women have been a crucial part of America's history. Now, the inspiring history of black women in America is explored in vivid detail by two leaders in the fields of African American and women's history.A Shining Thread of Hope chronicles the lives of black women from indentured servitude in the early American colonies to the cruelty of antebellum plantations, from the reign of lynch law in the Jim Crow South...

"The most comprehensive, the most thoroughly researched and documented, the most scholarly of the biographies of Martin Luther King, Jr." —Henry Steele Commanger, Philadelphia InquirerWinner of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Book Award * A New York Times Notable Book of the YearBy the acclaimed biographer of Abraham Lincoln, Nat Turner, and John Brown, Stephen B. Oates's prizewinning Let the Trumpet Sound is the d...