DeKalb County, Georgia, is much more than just another of the suburban areas around the city of Atlanta. African Americans have long lived, worked, played, and worshiped in the area. In African-American Life in DeKalb County: 1823-1970, Herman "Skip" Mason Jr., author, professor, and historian, has compiled a lovingly crafted look at the county's rich African-American heritage. With images from the Georgia Department of Archives and History, the DeKalb Historical Society, and his own extensive archives, Mason couples fascinating images with illuminating text to create a unique look at the area and its people. Within these pages, discover little-known facts about the county's past residents, including Bukumbo, the young girl who was brought from Africa to Decatur to serve as a nurse, who quickly became a beloved member of the family and died only a short while later. Learn about the great impact that the Clark and Oliver families had on Decatur, and view famous sections and landmarks of the county, including Lithonia, Ellenwood, Stone Mountain, Doraville, Tucker, Chamblee, Clarkston, Lynwood Park, Scottdale, and South DeKalb.

This book is about previously unidentified people who became Abolitionists involved in the antislavery movement from about 1840 to 1860. Although arrests were made in nearby counties, not one person was prosecuted for aiding a fugitive slave in DeKalb County, Illinois. First, the area Congregationalist, Universalist, Presbyterian and Wesleyan Methodist churches all had compelling antislavery beliefs. Church members, county elected officials, and the Underground Railroad conductors and stationmasters were all one and the same. Additionally, DeKalb County had the highest concentration of subscriptions to the Chicago-based Western Citizen antislavery newspaper. It was an accepted local activity to help escaped slaves. A biographical dictionary includes evidence and personal information for more than 600 men and women, and their families, who defied the prevailing Fugitive Slave Law, and helped the anti-slavery movement in this one Northern Illinois County. Unique photographs and illustrations are included along with notes, bibliography and index.

Howard was a doer as well as a dreamer. He achieved many great things during his lifetime including debating with Clarence Darrow, nominated for president of the United States, and attempted to impeach President Grover Cleveland.

Without rancor or blame, and even with occasional humor, The Pecan Orchard offers a window into the inequities between blacks and whites in a small southern town still emerging from Jim Crow attitudes.