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Mobile, Alabama's People of Color: A Tricentennial History, 1702-2002 Volume One

For many years, historians wrote about local communities from the national level, or from the "top down." These major "players," for instance, were political leaders of national prominence, such as Lyndon B. Johnson, or Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In recent decades, however, researchers and writers of history began in earnest to study and write about, the history of people on the local level, or from the "bottom up." The major focus became men and women, or "players" from the "grassroots," or religious, social and educational change and cultural awareness.

My purpose for writing Mobile, Alabama's People of Color: A Tricentennial History, 1702-2002 was to bring the Mobile African American community out of obscurity. Defining "points of departure" for this book spotlight specific individuals, events and places within the community, and their roles for three hundred years. While some of the local people highlighted in the book moved on to make their marks in other communities throughout the region, the country and abroad while maintaining their connections to the Mobile African American community, most of the local people became "movers and shakers" in the dynamics of change.

I placed minimal emphasis on individual claims of "firsts." Instead, I chronicled accomplishments made by individuals over time; how these accomplishments helped shape the contours of change; and also demonstrated how these accomplishments helped to form a unique part of the "City by the Bay," thus highlighting the ways in which Mobile African American people have helped to shape the community, the country and the world.

However, more than that, much more than that, I specifically aimed to help the community to learn about its past (the backdrop), in order to help them to appreciate the present and to understand the future ('We don't know where we're going if we don't know where we've been.')

A great number of people in the Mobile African American community became part of that community during American Slavery. However, in spite of all that was "bad" and all that was "ugly," the book unveils an historical community that is "firmly grounded" in uniqueness and stands on its "goodness." Mobile Alabama's People of Color: A Tricentennial History, 1702 -2002 provides some of the unique history of that community.

1112608692
Mobile, Alabama's People of Color: A Tricentennial History, 1702-2002 Volume One

For many years, historians wrote about local communities from the national level, or from the "top down." These major "players," for instance, were political leaders of national prominence, such as Lyndon B. Johnson, or Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In recent decades, however, researchers and writers of history began in earnest to study and write about, the history of people on the local level, or from the "bottom up." The major focus became men and women, or "players" from the "grassroots," or religious, social and educational change and cultural awareness.

My purpose for writing Mobile, Alabama's People of Color: A Tricentennial History, 1702-2002 was to bring the Mobile African American community out of obscurity. Defining "points of departure" for this book spotlight specific individuals, events and places within the community, and their roles for three hundred years. While some of the local people highlighted in the book moved on to make their marks in other communities throughout the region, the country and abroad while maintaining their connections to the Mobile African American community, most of the local people became "movers and shakers" in the dynamics of change.

I placed minimal emphasis on individual claims of "firsts." Instead, I chronicled accomplishments made by individuals over time; how these accomplishments helped shape the contours of change; and also demonstrated how these accomplishments helped to form a unique part of the "City by the Bay," thus highlighting the ways in which Mobile African American people have helped to shape the community, the country and the world.

However, more than that, much more than that, I specifically aimed to help the community to learn about its past (the backdrop), in order to help them to appreciate the present and to understand the future ('We don't know where we're going if we don't know where we've been.')

A great number of people in the Mobile African American community became part of that community during American Slavery. However, in spite of all that was "bad" and all that was "ugly," the book unveils an historical community that is "firmly grounded" in uniqueness and stands on its "goodness." Mobile Alabama's People of Color: A Tricentennial History, 1702 -2002 provides some of the unique history of that community.

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Mobile, Alabama's People of Color: A Tricentennial History, 1702-2002 Volume One

Mobile, Alabama's People of Color: A Tricentennial History, 1702-2002 Volume One

by Shawn a Bivens
Mobile, Alabama's People of Color: A Tricentennial History, 1702-2002 Volume One

Mobile, Alabama's People of Color: A Tricentennial History, 1702-2002 Volume One

by Shawn a Bivens

Overview

For many years, historians wrote about local communities from the national level, or from the "top down." These major "players," for instance, were political leaders of national prominence, such as Lyndon B. Johnson, or Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In recent decades, however, researchers and writers of history began in earnest to study and write about, the history of people on the local level, or from the "bottom up." The major focus became men and women, or "players" from the "grassroots," or religious, social and educational change and cultural awareness.

My purpose for writing Mobile, Alabama's People of Color: A Tricentennial History, 1702-2002 was to bring the Mobile African American community out of obscurity. Defining "points of departure" for this book spotlight specific individuals, events and places within the community, and their roles for three hundred years. While some of the local people highlighted in the book moved on to make their marks in other communities throughout the region, the country and abroad while maintaining their connections to the Mobile African American community, most of the local people became "movers and shakers" in the dynamics of change.

I placed minimal emphasis on individual claims of "firsts." Instead, I chronicled accomplishments made by individuals over time; how these accomplishments helped shape the contours of change; and also demonstrated how these accomplishments helped to form a unique part of the "City by the Bay," thus highlighting the ways in which Mobile African American people have helped to shape the community, the country and the world.

However, more than that, much more than that, I specifically aimed to help the community to learn about its past (the backdrop), in order to help them to appreciate the present and to understand the future ('We don't know where we're going if we don't know where we've been.')

A great number of people in the Mobile African American community became part of that community during American Slavery. However, in spite of all that was "bad" and all that was "ugly," the book unveils an historical community that is "firmly grounded" in uniqueness and stands on its "goodness." Mobile Alabama's People of Color: A Tricentennial History, 1702 -2002 provides some of the unique history of that community.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781412002172
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
Publication date: 12/23/2005
Pages: 542
Sales rank: 966,844
Product dimensions: 8.25(w) x 11.00(h) x 1.09(d)

About the Author



Shawn A. Bivens, a Mobile native and member of St. Joseph Catholic Church, graduated from St. Joseph Catholic School. She attended St. Peter High School in Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated from Lillie B. Williamson High School in Mobile. She received a Bachelor of Science degree from Spring Hill College, and a Master of Education degree from Alabama State University. Bivens is in the Ph.D. program in United States History at Howard University, and has completed dissertation research on the social movement of Mobile's people of color.

The author is past President of the Howard, Zeta Gamma Chapter of Phi Alpha Theta National History Honor Society, and the past President of the Graduate Student Council. Under her leadership, the Council established the Howard Chapter, National Association of Graduate and Professional Students, a membership of more than 13,000 graduate students. Bivens also represented Howard students on President H. Patrick Swygert's special committee to establish the National Center for African American Heritage and Culture, chaired by Dr. Cain Hope Felder.

Bivens served on the team of Howard's history graduate research assistants for the "African American Sailors in the Civil War Project," under Joseph P. Reidy, Ph. D., Principle Investigator. Part of the "Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Project" of the National Park Service, the Project was funded by the Department of Defense Legacy. Bivens was research assistant on the Supreme Chief Justice John Marshall Research Project for Olive A. Taylor, Ph.D., Principle Investigator. The author was also honoured to have among her scholarly listening audience, Dr. John Hope Franklin and Attorney Fred Gray,when she traveled to England to present a research paper at the University of Hull, in England in 1996. Among other awards, the author was recipient of the prestigious 1996 Rayford Wittingham Logan Paper Prize from Howard's Department of History; Special Graduate Student Recognition from Dr. Lorraine Anderson Williams in 1996, for work with the "Annual Lorraine Anderson Williams Lecture"; and, Outstanding leadership Award from graduate students in 1997.

The history educator is a member of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History; National Education Association; American Historical Association, Organization of American Historians; Southern Historical Association; John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; National Genealogical Society; Alabama Tombstone Transcription Project; Black Heritage Council of the Alabama Historical Commission and the Alabama Historical Association.
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