This two-volume work celebrates 50 notable achievements of African Americans, highlighting black contributions to U.S. history and examining the ways black accomplishments shaped American culture. This two-volume encyclopedia offers a unique look at the African American experience, from the arrival of the first 20 Africans at Jamestown through the launch of the Black Lives Matter movement and the Ferguson Protests. It illustrates subjects such as the Jim Crow period, the Brown v. Board of Education case that overturned segregation, Jackie Robinson's landmark integration of major league baseball, and the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States. Drawing from almost 400 years of U.S. history, the work documents the experiences and impact of black people on every aspect of American life. Presented chronologically, the selected events each include at least one primary source to provide the reader with a first-person perspective. These range from excerpts of speeches given by famous African American figures, to programs from the March on Washington. The remarkable stories collected here bear witness to the strength of a group of people who chose to survive and found ways to work collectively to force America to live up to the promise of its founding.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgments Introduction xvii Jamie J. Wilson VOLUME 1 Slavery in North America and the American Republic, 1502–1888 Transatlantic Slave Trade, 1502–1888 Christopher Cumo Nat Turner's Revolt, 1831 Bethany Jay 2 The Antebellum Era, 1830–1860 Abolitionist Movement, 1830–1860 Whitney Stewart, Jonathan A. Noyalas, Kevin R. C. Gutzman, and Nancy A. McCaslin Compromise of 1850 Kathleen Gronnerud Dred Scott v. Sanford, 1857 Marty Kuhlman John Brown's Raid, 1859 Evan C. Rothera 3 The Civil War and Reconstruction, 1860–1877 The United States Civil War, 1861–1865 James Sandy Reconstruction Era, 1863–1877 Loryn Clauson Establishment of Black Codes, 1866 Lacey P. Hunter 4 The Nadir, 1880–1915 The Exoduster Movement, 1879–1881 John Becker, Michael Thomas Gavin, Christopher Keith Johnson, and P. Huston Ladner Atlanta Compromise, 1895 Justin Williams and Bobby R. Holt Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896 Rodney Montague and Michael S. Rodriguez 5 The New Negro, 1915–1940 Great Migration, 1910–1960 Jessica L. Parker The Rise and Fall of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, 1914–1940 Jamie J. Wilson and Shawntel Lyn Ensminger The Harlem Renaissance, 1919–1930 Jordan Hill Pan-African Congresses, 1919–1949 Esperanza Brizuela-Garcia and Walter Rucker Scottsboro Boys, 1931–1948 Valerie R. Stackman 6 Fighting for a Double Victory, 1939–1948 Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, 1932–1972 Rueben C. Warren, Clayborne Carson, and Mindy R. Weidman Jackie Robinson Integrates Major League Baseball, 1947 Thabiti Lewis, Amy Essington, Gregory Kaliss, and Lew Freedman Integration of United States Armed Forces, 1947 Janice D. Hamlet 7 The Early Civil Rights Movement, 1945–1963 Freedom Rides, 1947, 1961 Matthew Gritter and Gerald Wayne Dowdy Brown v. Board of Education, 1954 Sarah Militz-Frielink, Alicia L. Moore, and La Vonne I. Neal The Murder of Emmett Till, 1955 Frank C. King Jr., Lionel Kimble Jr., and David Kenneth Pye The Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955–1956 Jamie J. Wilson, Dan Puckett, Erin Boade, and Jennifer A. Lemak The Founding of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 1957 Gabrie'l J. Atchison and Mindy R. Weidman Greensboro Four and the Sit-In Movement, 1960 417 Hettie V. Williams and Mary Jo Fairchild Project C: The Birmingham Campaign, 1963 432 Sondra Bickham Washington March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963 448 Jamie J. Wilson VOLUME 8 The Black Freedom Struggle Continues, 1964–1976471 The Birth of Soul: Stax and Motown Records, 1957–1967471 Tammy Kernodle, Katherine Gould, and Amanda de la Garza Freedom Summer, 1964484 Jamie J. Wilson, Claudette L. Tolson, Cristy Casado Tondeur, Paul T. Miller, and William Mychael Sturkey War on Poverty, 1964501 Jamie J. Wilson, Rickie Sanders, and James A. Beckman Civil Rights Legislation: Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965512 John Barnhill and John Drabble The Assassination of Malcolm X, 1965527 Bijan C. Bayne, Walter Rucker, and Jamie J. Wilson The Long Hot Summers: African American Riots and Rebellions, 1965–1968540 William P. Toth, Amanda J. Davis, Lacey P. Hunter, Mindy R. Weidman, and Walter Rucker The Black Power Movement, 1966–1973559 Jamie J. Wilson and Sara K. Eskridge Loving v. Virginia, 1967577 Staci M. Rubin Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., 1968593 Andrew Joseph Pegoda 9 Black Culture and Politics during the Conservative Backlash, 1968–2000609 Black Arts Movement, 1960–1975609 Nagueyalti Warren Rise and Fall of the Black Panther Party, 1966–1983628 Jamie J. Wilson and Zoe Trodd Election of Shirley Chisholm to the U.S. Congress, 1968647 Matthew Gritter The Birth of Hip Hop, 1970–1985659 Melissa Ursula Dawn Goldsmith The Release of Shaft, 1971679 Jacynda Ammons Roots: The Miniseries, 1977689 Renate L. Chancellor Launch of The Oprah Winfrey Show, 1986696 Shennette Garrett-Scott African American Antiapartheid Movement, 1937–1994711 Dawne Y. Curry, Walter Rucker, and Clay M. Johnson Million Man March, 1995727 Richard Thomas War on Drugs, 1971–2000s741 Mathai V. Mathew, Glen Jeansonne, David Luhrssen, Jim Marshall, and Richard Kent Evans 10 African Americans in the Early Twenty-First Century755 Barack Obama Wins the Presidency, 2008755 Marilyn K. Howard and Terri Nichols Black Lives Matter Movement, 2013–2017772 Rhonda Erica Celey National Museum of African American History and Culture Opens, 2016785 Christopher Cumo Bibliography of Recommended Resources805 About the Editor and Contributors811 Index823