Tracing the development of a black community in the trans-Mississippi West, Blacks in Topeka, Kansas, 1865--1915 is a thorough, insightful examination of an area of black history that has received, at best, scant attention. Thomas C. Cox probes in this study the political, social, and economic standing of blacks and the growth of black institutions in the Topeka area from early settlement during the territorial period through the rise of an urban Topeka in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.Pivotal In the development of the black community was the Great Exodus of the 1870s -- the massive migration of southern blacks that brought the community new leaders, businessmen, and skilled laborers, and provided the impetus for establishment of institutions and elaborate social structures. Assessing the impact of the Exodus on social stratification and on the destruction of power, Cox closely examines the establishment of political and social clubs, the founding of churches, the rise of the black press -- including the influential Colored Citizen and Plaindealer -- and the emergence of such community leaders a John Wright, William Eagle son, and James Guy.The racial discrimination that permeated Topeka and intensified in the wake of the Great Exodus soon brought about organized protest by the black community to advance the causes of reform and social progress. As this movement grew in strength, it became a powerful bond that overcame divisions within black Topeka, and gave rise to a cohesive community grounded in strong local institutions through which blacks could challenge city, state, and national attitudes and events. In the case of Topeka, which in many ways was exceptional, discrimination helped to create a significant degree of self-determination.With relevance to American social history in general, Thomas Cox's Blacks in Topeka, Kansas, 1865--1915 fully utilizes the methods and materials of social history -- including census analysis and group biography -- to conclusively demonstrate the significance of Topeka in the history of race relations and the growth of black political and nonpolitical institutions.

Whether slaves or free men, African Americans were generally excluded from military service until Emancipation. Many Americans know the story of the United States Colored Troops, who broke racial barriers in Civil War combat, and of the "buffalo soldiers," who served in the West after that conflict, but African Americans also served in segregated militia units in twenty three states. This book tells the story of that experience in Kansas. Roger Cunningham examines a lost history to show that, in addition to black regulars, hundreds of other black militiamen and volunteers from the Sunflower State provided military service from the Civil War until the dawn of the twentieth century. He tells how African Americans initially filled segregated companies hurriedly organized to defend the state from the threat of Confederate invasion, with some units ordered into battle around Kansas City. Then after the state constitution was amended to admit blacks into the Kansas National Guard, but its generals still refused to integrate, blacks served in reserve militia and independent companies and in all black regiments that were raised for the Spanish American and Philippine wars. Cunningham has researched service records, African American newspapers, and official correspondence to give voice to these citizen soldiers. He shares stories of real people like William D. Matthews, a captain in the First Kansas Colored Infantry who was refused a commission when his regiment was mustered into the Union army; Charles Grinsted, who commanded the first black militia company after the Civil War; and other unsung heroes. More than a military history, Cunningham¿s account records the quest of black men, many of them former slaves, for inclusion in American society. Many came from the bottom of the socioeconomic order and found that as militiamen they could gain respect within their communities. And by marching in public ceremonies and organizing fund raising activities to compensate for lack of financial support from the state, they also strengthened the ties that bound African American communities together. The Black Citizen Soldiers of Kansas, 1864¿1901 broadens the story of these volunteers beyond the buffalo soldiers, telling how they served their state and country in both peace and war. It opens a new chapter in history both for the state and for African Americans throughout the United States.

Until recently, histories of the American West gave little evidence of the presence--let alone importance--of African Americans in the unfolding of the western frontier. There might have been a mention of Estevan, slavery, or the Dred Scott decision, but the rich and varied experience of African Americans on the Great Plains went largely unnoted. This book, the first of its kind, supplies that critical missing chapter in American history.

African Americans arrived in Topeka right before and after the Civil War and again in large numbers during the Exodus Movement of 1879 and Great Migration of 1910. They came in protest of the treatment they received in the South. The history of dissent lived on in Topeka, as it became the home to court cases protesting discrimination of all kinds. African Americans came to the city determined that education would provide them a better life. Black educators fostered a sense of duty toward schooling, and in 1954 Topeka became a landmark for African Americans across the country with the Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education case. Blacks from every walk of life found refuge in Kansas and, especially, Topeka. The images in African American Topeka have been selected to give the reader a glimpse into the heritage of black life in the community. The richness of the culture and values of this Midwestern city are a little-known secret just waiting to be exhibited.

Compelling and informative, the 14 diverse biographies of this book give a heightened understanding of the evolution of what it meant to be black and American through more than three centuries of U.S. history.

Compared to the early decades of the 20th century, when scholarly writing on African Americans was limited to a few titles on slavery, Reconstruction, and African American migration, the last thirty years have witnessed an explosion of works on the African American experience. With the Civil Rights and Black Power movements of the 1960s came an increasing demand for the study and teaching of African American history followed by the publication of increasing numbers of titles on African American life and history. This volume provides a comprehensive bibliographical and analytical guide to this growing body of literature as well as an analysis of how the study of African Americans has changed.