Voices of the African American Experience [3 volumes]

From the Publisher

"Voices of the African American Experience is a three-volume scholarly compendium of primary testimonies and sources of African-American history . . . offering an unparalleled glimpse into the lives of African-Americans during the past four hundred years, in their own words. . . . A thoroughly accessible resource sure to fascinate readers of all backgrounds, Voices of the African American Experience deserves the highest recommendation especially for public and college library collections."

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Midwest Book Review - Wisconsin Bookwatch

"Bascom's work is an excellent addition to all public and academic library collections."

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ARBA

"This wide-ranging survey will prove useful in high school, public and academic libraries."

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Lawrence Looks at Books

"Described by editor Bascom (A Renaissance in Harlem: Lost Voices of an American Community) as 'a document collection, rather than a history,' this three-volume set forms an engaging compilation of narratives, speeches, sermons, and historical documents on the African American experience. Arranged chronologically, the 145 articles cover African American involvement in the Americas from 1600s to 2008, with Volume 1 ending shortly after Reconstruction, Volume 2 ending in the Great Depression, and Volume 3 culminating with president-elect Obama's election night speech in January 2009. . . . this work does a respectable job of pointing to some of the obstacles African Americans have had to overcome in the United States. Academic or public libraries that own To Make Our World Anew or TV shows such as the PBS video series Eyes on the Prize could use this as a companion."

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Library Journal

"Editor Bascom (English, Western Connecticut State U.) has compiled a collection of documents that reflect the experiences of African Americans from their early days as an enslaved people to their eventual status as Americans. Spanning a time period beginning with the initial importation of slaves to the English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia to 2008, this three-volume set includes almost 150 documents. The documents include relevant acts of Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court, correspondence, speeches, essays, interviews, and more. Authors range from Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams to James Baldwin and Al Sharpton. Entries are listed in chronological order and brief introductions place the entries in context. A substantial chronology of African American history also is included, as is a selected bibliography."

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Reference & Research Book News

"Three volumes of text provide an exhaustive review of history through the inclusion of 145 documents that are presented in date order. Each entry includes a brief expository statement that provides framing and context for the reader. A substantial chronology precedes the entries, and a selected bibliography supplements the text. …Recommended for large public libraries, and smaller academic collections."

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MultiCultural Review

"The majority of the selections in these volumes cannot be found with an online search; most are from non-digitized physical collections. And with the growing emphasis on the use of primary resources in schools, this set will be a valuable addition to a high school library. Public libraries whose patrons include historical or sociological researchers will also find it useful."

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VOYA

"…this set will be an asset to reference collections in academic and public libraries. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through graduate students in American history, political science, and sociology; general readers."

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Choice

VOYA - Cheryl Clark

Library Journal

Described by editor Bascom (A Renaissance in Harlem: Lost Voices of an American Community) as "a document collection, rather than a history," this three-volume set forms an engaging compilation of narratives, speeches, sermons, and historical documents on the African American experience. Arranged chronologically, the 145 articles cover African American involvement in the Americas from 1600s to 2008, with Volume 1 ending shortly after Reconstruction, Volume 2 ending in the Great Depression, and Volume 3 culminating with president-elect Obama's election night speech in January 2009. While the set covers a range of events and time periods, African Americans' involvement in World Wars I and II seems to be overlooked. Further, speeches from Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan are excerpted, speeches from Martin Luther King Jr. are not. In addition, there are areas where the book seems to bog down in minutiae. While the voting rights act of 1965 is significant, devoting nine pages to a transcription of the act seems excessive. BOTTOM LINE Although it lacks the historical breadth of such books as Robin Kelly and Earl Lewis's To Make Our World Anew: A History of African Americans(Oxford Univ., 2000), this work does a respectable job of pointing to some of the obstacles African Americans have had to overcome in the United States. Academic or public libraries that own To Make Our World Anew or TV shows such as the PBS video series Eyes on the Prize could use this as a companion. Libraries already owning other materials on the subject may pass; buy where budgets permit.—James Langan, Univ. of Pittsburgh Lib., Johnstown