Bryan was incorporated in 1872, but it would take more than ten years before its African American population was offered schooling. Nothing would come easy for them, but they persevered through hard work, ingenuity and family support. The success of today's generation is a direct result of determined, hardworking pioneers like Dr. Samuel J. Sealey Sr., Bryan's "baby doctor" in the 1930s and '40s, and Dr. William A. Hammond Sr., who opened Bryan's first black hospital and employed many blacks through his business ventures. Learn about the inspiration and guidance provided by the likes of Oliver Wayne Sadberry, an outstanding community leader and principal of Fairview and Washington Elementary. Dr. Oswell Person shares the story of this community's achievements, successes and contributions in the face of incredible odds.

Bryan was incorporated in 1872, but it would take more than ten years before its African American population was offered schooling. Nothing would come easy for them, but they persevered through hard work, ingenuity and family support. The success of today's generation is a direct result of determined, hardworking pioneers like Dr. Samuel J. Sealey Sr., Bryan's baby doctor" in the 1930s and '40s, and Dr. William A. Hammond Sr., who opened Bryan's first black hospital and employed many blacks through his business ventures. Learn about the inspiration and guidance provided by the likes of Oliver Wayne Sadberry, an outstanding community leader and principal of Fairview and Washington Elementary. Dr. Oswell Person shares the story of this community's achievements, successes and contributions in the face of incredible odds."

Nevels argues that five racially motivated murders of black men in Brazos County, Texas, point to an emerging social phenomenon of the time: the desire of newly arrived European immigrants to assert their place in society and the use of racial violence to achieve that end.

Thousands of black men died violently at the hands of mobs in the post–Civil War South. But in Brazos County, Texas, argues Cynthia Nevels, five such deaths in particular point to an emerging social phenomenon of the time: the desire of newly arrived European immigrants to assert their place in society, and the use of racially motivated violence to achieve that end. Driven by economics and the forces of history, the Italian, Irish, and Czech immigrants to this rich agricultural region were faced with the necessity of figuring out where they fit in a culture that had essentially two categories: white and black. In many ways, the newcomers realized, they belonged in neither position. In the end, they found ways to resolve the ambiguity by taking advantage of and sometimes participating directly in the South’s most brutal form of racial domination. For each of the immigrant groups caught up in the violence, the deaths of black men helped to establish racial identity and to bestow the all-important privileges of whiteness. This compelling and superbly written study will appeal to students and scholars of social and racial history, both regional and national.

Bruce A. Glasrud and Deborah M. Liles have gathered over thirty years of scholarship—articles, book excerpts, and new, original essays—to offer for the first time an overview of the history of African Americans in Central Texas. From slavery and agriculture in the nineteenth century to entrepreneurship and the struggle for civil rights in the twentieth century, African Americans in Central Texas History: From Slavery to Civil Rights fills in the critical missing pieces of an often-overlooked region in the state’s history. African Americans first entered Central Texas with Spanish explorers, but few remained. White slave holders later brought black residents—as slaves—to this region. With the end of the Civil War, slavery may have ended but the brutalities of racial prejudice persisted. During Reconstruction, new attempts to ensure civil and political rights were resisted through terror, racial violence, and systemic denial of justice. Well into the twentieth century, segregation persisted, but years of individual and mobilized protest finally led to significant reform. Organizations such as the NAACP provided vital support. Before efforts to disenfranchise the black vote became successful, some politicians even courted black voters to further their own political agendas. African Americans in Central Texas History is a rare source that sheds light on the African American experience in the heart of the state.