Letters from Black America
Item
Title
Letters from Black America
This edition
"Letters from Black America" . Ed. Pamela Newkirk. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2009. xix+372 pp.
Table of contents
● Introduction
● A Note on the Text
PART I: Family
● Hannah Grover / To Her Son Cato (June 3, 1805)
● George Pleasant / To Agnes Hobbs (September 6, 1833)
● Lucy Smith / To Sarah Boon (May 1, 1842)
● Abream Scriven / To Dinah Jones (September 19, 1858)
● James Tate / To His Wife (February 4, 1863)
● Ann Valentine / To Andrew Valentine (January 19, 1864)
● Mandy McCinny / To George McCinny (May 11, 1864)
● Susanah Hart / To Mark Hart (February 23, 1865)
● Martha Bruce / To John Edward Bruce (September 23, 1887)
● Paul Laurence Dunbar / To Matilda Dunbar (June 6, 1893)
● Matilda Dunbar / To Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 8, 1895)
● Paul Laurence Dunbar / To Matilda Dunbar (November 25, 1897)
● Matilda Dunbar / To Paul Laurence Dunbar (July 5, 1901)
● Mary Church Terrell / To Robert H. Terrell (July 9, 1902)
● Robert H. Terrell / To Mary Church Terrell (Undated)
● Robert H. Terrell / To Mary Church Terrell (December 30, 1913)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To Yolande Du Bois (March 13, 1907)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To Yolande Du Bois (October 29, 1914)
● Dr. William R.R. Granger, Sr., / To Son (October 8, 1911)
● Dr. William R.R. Granger, Sr., / To W.R.R. Granger, Jr. (September 30, 1914)
● Dr. A.T. Granger / To Dr. W.R.R. Granger, Jr. (August 5, 1917)
● Lester B. Granger / To Dr. W.R.R. Granger, Jr. (July 15, 1930)
● Lester B. Granger / To Dr. W.R.R. Granger, Jr. (February 23, 1932)
● Madam C.J. Walker / To A’Lelia Walker (May 16, 1919)
● Grace Nail Johnson / To James Weldon Johnson (June 19, 1929)
● Leigh Whipper / To Dr. Ionia Whipper (September 8, 1930)
● Robert Murphy / To Matilda Dunbar (October 30, 1933)
● Ralph Ellison / To Ida Millsap Ellison (April 20, 1937)
● Ralph Ellison / To Ida Millsap Ellison (August 30, 1937)
● The Watson Children / To Justice James S. Watson (Undated, 1937)
● James L. Watson / To Justice James S. Watson (May 16, 1943)
● Doug Watson / To Justice James S. Watson (September 29, 1947)
● Martin Luther King, Jr., / To Martin Luther King, Sr. (June 15, 1944)
● Julia Davis Rustin / To Bayard Rustin (April 15, 1946)
● Martin Luther King, Jr., / To Alberta King (October 1948)
● Edith Braithwaite / To William Stanley Braithwaite (December 27, 1954)
● William Stanley Braithwaite / To Edith Braithwaite (September 27, 1956)
● Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., / To Hazel Scott Powell (October 11, 1957)
● Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., / To Coretta Scott King (October 26, 1960)
● Medgar Evers / To Myrlie Evers and Children (November 27, 1962)
● Urnestine Lewis / To David Levering Lewis (September 7, 1963)
● Derrick Bell, Jr., / To Derrick Bell, Sr. (July 26, 1967)
● Joseph F. Beam / To Mom and Dad (May 29, 1976)
● Walter J. Leonard / To Angela Leonard (April 16, 1991)
● Walter J. Leonard / To Mamie K. Singleton (November 10, 1992)
● Queen Esther Gupton Cheatham Jones / To Renée Cheatham Neblett (March 1993)
● Queen Esther Gupton Cheatham Jones / To Renée Cheatham Neblett (Undated, circa 1996)
● Thomas Allen Harris / To Lyle Ashton Harris (Undated, 1998)
● Michael Leon Thomas / To Mom and Dad (October 12, 2000)
● Walter J. Leonard / To Angela M. Leonard (May 12, 2005)
PART II: Courtship and Romance
● Nicey E. Bush / To Harvey Moore (September 14, 1869)
● Harvey Moore / To Nicey E. Bush (October 26, 1869)
● Harvey Moore / To Nicey E. Bush (December 20, 1869)
● Paul Laurence Dunbar / To Alice Ruth Moore (March 17, 1897)
● Roscoe Conkling Bruce / To Clara Burrill (January 3, 1903)
● Clara Burrill / To Roscoe Conkling Bruce (Undated, 1903)
● Roscoe Conkling Bruce / To Clara Burrill (January 31, 1903)
● Roscoe Conkling Bruce / To Clara Burrill (February 19 [1903])
● Dr. James Arthur Kennedy / To A’Lelia Walker (December 8, 1921)
● Dr. Henry Arthur Callis / To Myra Colson (December 24, 1925)
● Dr. Henry Arthur Callis / To Myra Colson (January 7, 1926)
● Robert Keyes / To Hattie Haynes (April 15, 1928)
● Fredi Washington / To Lawrence Brown (June 22, 1932)
● Lawrence Brown / To Fredi Washington (Undated)
● Charles Drew / To Minnie Lenore Robbins (April 9, 1939)
● Charles Drew / To Minnie Lenore Robbins (1939)
● Charles Drew / To Minnie Lenore Robbins (April 21, 1939)
● Martin Luther King, Jr., / To Coretta Scott (July 18, 1952)
● Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., / To Coretta Scott King (February 14, 1957)
● Booker T. Washington III / To Joyce Dodson Washington (February 4, 1968)
● Walter D. Broadnax / To Angel Wheelock Marshall (March 28, 1984)
● Francesca Momplaisir / To Nnabu Gogoh (May 8, 1999)
● Nnabu Gogoh / To Francesca Momplaisir (June 10, 2000)
● Nnabu Gogoh / To Francesca Momplaisir (September 28, 2000)
PART III: Politics and Social Justice
● Phillis Wheatley / To Rev. Samson Occom (February 11, 1774)
● Benjamin Banneker / To Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson (August 19, 1972)
● Frederick Douglass / To Captain Thomas Auld (September 3, 1848)
● Fugitive Slaves / To Enslaved Brethren (November 5, 1850)
● Annie Davis / To President Abraham Lincoln (August 25, 1864)
● Sojourner Truth / To Rowland Johnson (November 17, 1864)
● Frederick Douglass / To Readers (June 13, 1872)
● Whitefield McKinlay / To Booker T. Washington (November 1, 1901)
● Booker T. Washington / To Whitefield McKinlay (November 6, 1901)
● Booker T. Washington / To Whitefield McKinlay (February 8, 1902)
● Ida B. Wells-Barnett / To Anti-Lynching Bureau (January 1, 1902)
● Robert Smalls / To Whitefield McKinlay (November 10, 1909)
● Robert Smalls / To Whitefield McKinlay (September 12, 1912)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To President Woodrow Wilson (October 10, 1916)
● James Weldon Johnson / To President Warren G. Harding (September 19, 1921)
● Arthur A. Schomburg / To Wendell Dabney (December 12, 1933)
● Roy Wilkins / To Eleanor Roosevelt (Undated)
● Walter White / To Thurgood Marshall (March 1, 1935)
● Claude McKay / To James Weldon Johnson (May 8, 1935)
● Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., / To Eleanor Roosevelt (November 5, 1956)
● Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., / To U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy (November 5, 1957)
● Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., / To President John F. Kennedy (September 11, 1962)
● Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., / To White Clergymen (April 16, 1963)
● James Baldwin / To His Nephew James (1963)
● Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., / To Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 27, 1964)
● Shirley Du Bois / To Langston Hughes (March 7, 1965)
● Jean Fairfax / To Minnie and A.J. Lewis (July 23, 1965)
● U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke III / To President Richard M. Nixon (March 27, 1969)
● U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke III / To Secretary of State William P. Rogers (May 27, 1969)
● Bayard Rustin / To Eldridge Cleaver (January 24, 1977)
● Bayard Rustin / To Mayor Edward I. Koch (February 25, 1985)
● Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. / To Jodi Kantor (March 2007)
● Toni Morrison / To U.S. Senator Barack Obama (January 28, 2008)
● Alice Walker / To President-Elect Barack Obama (November 5, 2008)
PART IV: Education and the Art of Scholarship
● Booker T. Washington / To Emily Howland (Undated)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To Harvard University (October 29, 1887)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To the John F. Slater Fund (March 10, 1893)
● Booker T. Washington / To W.E.B. Du Bois (July 15, 1902)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To Vernealia Fereira (December 14, 1904)
● John Hope / To W.E.B. Du Bois (January 17, 1910)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To John Hope (January 22, 1910)
● Alice Dunbar / To John Edward Bruce (March 23, 1914)
● James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey / To Sadie Peterson Delaney (March 14, 1924)
● John Hope / To W.E.B. Du Bois (November 15, 1924)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To John Hope (March 25, 1925)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To Bureau of Education Commissioner William John Cooper (December 18, 1929)
● Carter G. Woodson / To John Hope (December 24, 1931)
● Alain Locke / To James Weldon Johnson (March 7, 1934)
● Countee Cullen / To James Weldon Johnson (June 7, 1934)
● Shirley Graham / To W.E.B. Du Bois (June 23, 1934)
● Sterling A. Brown / To W.E.B. Du Bois (January 29, 1935)
● Horace Mann Bond / To Arthur A. Schomburg (September 19, 1936)
● Arthur A. Schomburg / To Jacob Drachler (January 10, 1938)
● Kenneth B. Clark / To Mr. Swift (September 17, 1940)
● Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., / To Rev. Hugh Burr (March 16, 1956)
● Jean Fairfax / To U.S. Education Commissioner Francis Keppel (March 6, 1967)
● Derrick Bell, Jr. / to Office for Civil Rights Staff (August 15, 1967)
● U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke III / To President Richard M. Nixon (June 25, 1969)
● Derrick Bell, Jr. / To Justice Thurgood Marshall (October 2, 1969)
● Justice Thurgood Marshall / To Derrick Bell, Jr. (October 1969)
● Kenneth B. Clark / To “The New York Times” (August 7, 1979)
● Derrick Bell, Jr. / To Dean Robert Clark (April 9, 1990)
● Walter J. Leonard / To Angela M. Leonard (July 28, 1997)
● Walter J. Leonard / To Angela M. Leonard (November 6, 2002)
● Rev. Bernard Chris Dorsey / To Walter Broadnax (April 17, 2007)
● Dr. Frank L. Douglas / To Claude Canizares, MIT Vice President for Research (June 1, 2007)
● Dr. Frank L. Douglas / To His MIT Colleagues and Friends (June 1, 2007)
PART V: War
● John Boston / To His Wife (January 12, 1862)
● Lewis Douglass / To Amelia Loguen (July 20, 1863)
● James Henry Gooding / To President Abraham Lincoln (September 28, 1963)
● Nancy Allcorn / To Missouri Provost Marshall (May 16, 1864)
● George Rodgers et al. / To President Abraham Lincoln (August 1864)
● Roanoke Island, North Carolina, Freedmen / To Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton (March 9, 1865)
● M.W. Saddler / To “The Freeman” Newspaper (September 1899)
● Patrick Mason / To Editor of “The Gazette” Newspaper (November 19, 1899)
● Unnamed Soldier / To “New York Age” Editor (May 17, 1900)
● James A. Davis / To Pecola Johnson Davis (October 1, 1918)
● Canute Frankson / To a Dear Friend (July 6, 1937)
● Canute Frankson / To “My Dear” (July 23, 1937)
● Canute Frankson / To “Dearest” (April 13, 1938)
● Leigh Whipper / To Benjamin O. Davis (January 28, 1941)
● Mr. and Mrs. James S. Watson / To Private James L. Watson (January 23, 1943)
● Lenwood Waller / To Pauline Perry (May 7, 1945)
● Bayard Rustin / To Local Board No. 63, New York City (November 16, 1943)
● A. Philip Randolph / To Bayard Rustin (April 17, 1944)
● A. Philip Randolph / To Secretary of Defense George C. Marshall (October 30, 1950)
● Lester B. Granger / To Navy Secretary Dan A. Kimball (October 24, 1952)
● U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke III / To President Richard M. Nixon (October 23, 1969)
● U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke III / To President Richard M. Nixon (May 11, 1970)
● Gen. Colin L. Powell / To the Students of East Pike Elementary School (August 22, 1991)
● Gen. Colin L. Powell / To Friends of Sgt. Maj. William Harrington (May 26, 1944)
● Capt. Eric Mitchell / To Friends and Family (2003)
● Maj. David Scott Harris / To Lois D. Cherry (March 23, 2003)
● Lois D. Cherry / To Maj. David Scott Harris (March 23, 2003)
● Maj. David Scott Harris / To Lois D. Cherry (April 3, 2003)
● Commanding Officer Craig S. Prather, PE, MBA / To My Dalton Family (December 25, 2006)
PART VI: Art and Culture
● Phillis Wheatley / To Gen. George Washington (October 26, 1775)
● Paul Laurence Dunbar / To Alice Ruth Moore (April 17, 1895)
● Alice Ruth Moore / To Paul Laurence Dunbar (May 7, 1895)
● Paul Laurence Dunbar / To Booker T. Washington (January 23, 1902)
● Claude A. Barnett / To Jean Toomer (April 23, 1923)
● Jean Toomer / To Claude A. Barnett (April 29, 1923)
● Countee Cullen / To Langston Hughes (May 14, 1924)
● Countee Cullen / To Langston Hughes (October 8, 1924)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To Roland Hayes (November 30, 1925)
● Roland Hayes / To W.E.B. Du Bois (December 16, 1925)
● Alain Locke / To A’Lelia Walker (October 12, 1928)
● Zora Neale Hurston / To Langston Hughes (December 10, 1929)
● Jean Toomer / To James Weldon Johnson (July 11, 1930)
● James Weldon Johnson / To Jean Toomer (July 26, 1930)
● Langston Hughes / To James Weldon Johnson (August 14, 1931)
● Zora Neale Hurston / To James Weldon Johnson (April 16, 1934)
● Zora Neale Hurston / To Dorothy West (Undated)
● Claude McKay / To James Weldon Johnson (May 31, 1935)
● Ralph Ellison / To Langston Hughes (August 24, 1936)
● Claude McKay / To James Weldon Johnson (April 2, 1937)
● Ralph Ellison / To Langston Hughes (April 27, 1937)
● Arthur A. Schomburg / To Langston Hughes (January 3, 1938)
● Arthur A. Schomburg / To Caterina Jarboro (March 21, 1938)
● Richard Wright / To David L. Cohn, “The Atlantic Monthly” (May 1945)
● Langston Hughes / To John Johnson (October 14, 1945)
● Ralph Ellison / To Langston Hughes (August 25, 1947)
● Ralph Ellison / To Kenneth Burke (August 25, 1947)
● Fredi Washington / To Darr Smith (August 2, 1949)
● James Hubert “Eubie” Blake / To Flournoy E. Miller (October 30, 1949)
● Bobby Short / To Fredi Washington (May 18, 1952)
● Langston Hughes / To Arna Bontemps (February 18, 1953)
● Arna Bontemps / To Langston Hughes (March 4, 1953)
● Ralph Ellison / To Mrs. Turner (March 31, 1953)
● James Hubert “Eubie” Blake / To Flournoy E. Miller (October 9, 1954)
● Josephine Baker / To Langston Hughes (December 23, 1964)
● Alice Walker / To Derrick Bell, Jr. (May 20, 1986)
● William T. Williams / To David C. Driskell (October 5, 1988)
● Howardena Pindell / To Charles Reeve, editor of “Art Papers” (May 30, 2002)
PART VII: Across the Diaspora
● Mack Nichols et al. / To Rev. Alexander Crummel (October 4, 1865)
● George T. Downing / To Alexander Crummel (May 18, 1897)
● Alexander Crummel / To John W. Cromwell (June 15, 1897)
● John R. Archer / To John Edward Bruce (January 17, 1914)
● James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey / To Arthur A. Schomburg (May 28, 1918)
● James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey / To John Edward Bruce (June 28, 1922)
● J.E. Casely Hayford / To John Edward Bruce (November 24, 1923)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To Liberian President Honorable Charles Dunbar Burgess King (January 21, 1924)
● Marcus Garvey / To Negroes of the World (February 10, 1925)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To Harvey S. Firestone (October 26, 1925)
● Louis-Marie Dantès Bellegarde / To Arthur A. Schomburg (March 11, 1932)
● Arthur A. Schomburg / To Louis-Marie Dantès Bellegarde (May 3, 1934)
● Marcus Garvey / To Norton Cruickshank (June 10, 1937)
● Fredi Washington / To Ademola Johnson (September 23, 1949)
● William Alphaeus Hunton Jr. / To Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah (May 4, 1962)
● Charles Adjei / To Lois Okudzeto (June 2003)
● Acknowledgments
● Index
● A Note on the Text
PART I: Family
● Hannah Grover / To Her Son Cato (June 3, 1805)
● George Pleasant / To Agnes Hobbs (September 6, 1833)
● Lucy Smith / To Sarah Boon (May 1, 1842)
● Abream Scriven / To Dinah Jones (September 19, 1858)
● James Tate / To His Wife (February 4, 1863)
● Ann Valentine / To Andrew Valentine (January 19, 1864)
● Mandy McCinny / To George McCinny (May 11, 1864)
● Susanah Hart / To Mark Hart (February 23, 1865)
● Martha Bruce / To John Edward Bruce (September 23, 1887)
● Paul Laurence Dunbar / To Matilda Dunbar (June 6, 1893)
● Matilda Dunbar / To Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 8, 1895)
● Paul Laurence Dunbar / To Matilda Dunbar (November 25, 1897)
● Matilda Dunbar / To Paul Laurence Dunbar (July 5, 1901)
● Mary Church Terrell / To Robert H. Terrell (July 9, 1902)
● Robert H. Terrell / To Mary Church Terrell (Undated)
● Robert H. Terrell / To Mary Church Terrell (December 30, 1913)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To Yolande Du Bois (March 13, 1907)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To Yolande Du Bois (October 29, 1914)
● Dr. William R.R. Granger, Sr., / To Son (October 8, 1911)
● Dr. William R.R. Granger, Sr., / To W.R.R. Granger, Jr. (September 30, 1914)
● Dr. A.T. Granger / To Dr. W.R.R. Granger, Jr. (August 5, 1917)
● Lester B. Granger / To Dr. W.R.R. Granger, Jr. (July 15, 1930)
● Lester B. Granger / To Dr. W.R.R. Granger, Jr. (February 23, 1932)
● Madam C.J. Walker / To A’Lelia Walker (May 16, 1919)
● Grace Nail Johnson / To James Weldon Johnson (June 19, 1929)
● Leigh Whipper / To Dr. Ionia Whipper (September 8, 1930)
● Robert Murphy / To Matilda Dunbar (October 30, 1933)
● Ralph Ellison / To Ida Millsap Ellison (April 20, 1937)
● Ralph Ellison / To Ida Millsap Ellison (August 30, 1937)
● The Watson Children / To Justice James S. Watson (Undated, 1937)
● James L. Watson / To Justice James S. Watson (May 16, 1943)
● Doug Watson / To Justice James S. Watson (September 29, 1947)
● Martin Luther King, Jr., / To Martin Luther King, Sr. (June 15, 1944)
● Julia Davis Rustin / To Bayard Rustin (April 15, 1946)
● Martin Luther King, Jr., / To Alberta King (October 1948)
● Edith Braithwaite / To William Stanley Braithwaite (December 27, 1954)
● William Stanley Braithwaite / To Edith Braithwaite (September 27, 1956)
● Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., / To Hazel Scott Powell (October 11, 1957)
● Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., / To Coretta Scott King (October 26, 1960)
● Medgar Evers / To Myrlie Evers and Children (November 27, 1962)
● Urnestine Lewis / To David Levering Lewis (September 7, 1963)
● Derrick Bell, Jr., / To Derrick Bell, Sr. (July 26, 1967)
● Joseph F. Beam / To Mom and Dad (May 29, 1976)
● Walter J. Leonard / To Angela Leonard (April 16, 1991)
● Walter J. Leonard / To Mamie K. Singleton (November 10, 1992)
● Queen Esther Gupton Cheatham Jones / To Renée Cheatham Neblett (March 1993)
● Queen Esther Gupton Cheatham Jones / To Renée Cheatham Neblett (Undated, circa 1996)
● Thomas Allen Harris / To Lyle Ashton Harris (Undated, 1998)
● Michael Leon Thomas / To Mom and Dad (October 12, 2000)
● Walter J. Leonard / To Angela M. Leonard (May 12, 2005)
PART II: Courtship and Romance
● Nicey E. Bush / To Harvey Moore (September 14, 1869)
● Harvey Moore / To Nicey E. Bush (October 26, 1869)
● Harvey Moore / To Nicey E. Bush (December 20, 1869)
● Paul Laurence Dunbar / To Alice Ruth Moore (March 17, 1897)
● Roscoe Conkling Bruce / To Clara Burrill (January 3, 1903)
● Clara Burrill / To Roscoe Conkling Bruce (Undated, 1903)
● Roscoe Conkling Bruce / To Clara Burrill (January 31, 1903)
● Roscoe Conkling Bruce / To Clara Burrill (February 19 [1903])
● Dr. James Arthur Kennedy / To A’Lelia Walker (December 8, 1921)
● Dr. Henry Arthur Callis / To Myra Colson (December 24, 1925)
● Dr. Henry Arthur Callis / To Myra Colson (January 7, 1926)
● Robert Keyes / To Hattie Haynes (April 15, 1928)
● Fredi Washington / To Lawrence Brown (June 22, 1932)
● Lawrence Brown / To Fredi Washington (Undated)
● Charles Drew / To Minnie Lenore Robbins (April 9, 1939)
● Charles Drew / To Minnie Lenore Robbins (1939)
● Charles Drew / To Minnie Lenore Robbins (April 21, 1939)
● Martin Luther King, Jr., / To Coretta Scott (July 18, 1952)
● Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., / To Coretta Scott King (February 14, 1957)
● Booker T. Washington III / To Joyce Dodson Washington (February 4, 1968)
● Walter D. Broadnax / To Angel Wheelock Marshall (March 28, 1984)
● Francesca Momplaisir / To Nnabu Gogoh (May 8, 1999)
● Nnabu Gogoh / To Francesca Momplaisir (June 10, 2000)
● Nnabu Gogoh / To Francesca Momplaisir (September 28, 2000)
PART III: Politics and Social Justice
● Phillis Wheatley / To Rev. Samson Occom (February 11, 1774)
● Benjamin Banneker / To Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson (August 19, 1972)
● Frederick Douglass / To Captain Thomas Auld (September 3, 1848)
● Fugitive Slaves / To Enslaved Brethren (November 5, 1850)
● Annie Davis / To President Abraham Lincoln (August 25, 1864)
● Sojourner Truth / To Rowland Johnson (November 17, 1864)
● Frederick Douglass / To Readers (June 13, 1872)
● Whitefield McKinlay / To Booker T. Washington (November 1, 1901)
● Booker T. Washington / To Whitefield McKinlay (November 6, 1901)
● Booker T. Washington / To Whitefield McKinlay (February 8, 1902)
● Ida B. Wells-Barnett / To Anti-Lynching Bureau (January 1, 1902)
● Robert Smalls / To Whitefield McKinlay (November 10, 1909)
● Robert Smalls / To Whitefield McKinlay (September 12, 1912)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To President Woodrow Wilson (October 10, 1916)
● James Weldon Johnson / To President Warren G. Harding (September 19, 1921)
● Arthur A. Schomburg / To Wendell Dabney (December 12, 1933)
● Roy Wilkins / To Eleanor Roosevelt (Undated)
● Walter White / To Thurgood Marshall (March 1, 1935)
● Claude McKay / To James Weldon Johnson (May 8, 1935)
● Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., / To Eleanor Roosevelt (November 5, 1956)
● Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., / To U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy (November 5, 1957)
● Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., / To President John F. Kennedy (September 11, 1962)
● Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., / To White Clergymen (April 16, 1963)
● James Baldwin / To His Nephew James (1963)
● Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., / To Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 27, 1964)
● Shirley Du Bois / To Langston Hughes (March 7, 1965)
● Jean Fairfax / To Minnie and A.J. Lewis (July 23, 1965)
● U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke III / To President Richard M. Nixon (March 27, 1969)
● U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke III / To Secretary of State William P. Rogers (May 27, 1969)
● Bayard Rustin / To Eldridge Cleaver (January 24, 1977)
● Bayard Rustin / To Mayor Edward I. Koch (February 25, 1985)
● Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. / To Jodi Kantor (March 2007)
● Toni Morrison / To U.S. Senator Barack Obama (January 28, 2008)
● Alice Walker / To President-Elect Barack Obama (November 5, 2008)
PART IV: Education and the Art of Scholarship
● Booker T. Washington / To Emily Howland (Undated)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To Harvard University (October 29, 1887)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To the John F. Slater Fund (March 10, 1893)
● Booker T. Washington / To W.E.B. Du Bois (July 15, 1902)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To Vernealia Fereira (December 14, 1904)
● John Hope / To W.E.B. Du Bois (January 17, 1910)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To John Hope (January 22, 1910)
● Alice Dunbar / To John Edward Bruce (March 23, 1914)
● James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey / To Sadie Peterson Delaney (March 14, 1924)
● John Hope / To W.E.B. Du Bois (November 15, 1924)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To John Hope (March 25, 1925)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To Bureau of Education Commissioner William John Cooper (December 18, 1929)
● Carter G. Woodson / To John Hope (December 24, 1931)
● Alain Locke / To James Weldon Johnson (March 7, 1934)
● Countee Cullen / To James Weldon Johnson (June 7, 1934)
● Shirley Graham / To W.E.B. Du Bois (June 23, 1934)
● Sterling A. Brown / To W.E.B. Du Bois (January 29, 1935)
● Horace Mann Bond / To Arthur A. Schomburg (September 19, 1936)
● Arthur A. Schomburg / To Jacob Drachler (January 10, 1938)
● Kenneth B. Clark / To Mr. Swift (September 17, 1940)
● Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., / To Rev. Hugh Burr (March 16, 1956)
● Jean Fairfax / To U.S. Education Commissioner Francis Keppel (March 6, 1967)
● Derrick Bell, Jr. / to Office for Civil Rights Staff (August 15, 1967)
● U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke III / To President Richard M. Nixon (June 25, 1969)
● Derrick Bell, Jr. / To Justice Thurgood Marshall (October 2, 1969)
● Justice Thurgood Marshall / To Derrick Bell, Jr. (October 1969)
● Kenneth B. Clark / To “The New York Times” (August 7, 1979)
● Derrick Bell, Jr. / To Dean Robert Clark (April 9, 1990)
● Walter J. Leonard / To Angela M. Leonard (July 28, 1997)
● Walter J. Leonard / To Angela M. Leonard (November 6, 2002)
● Rev. Bernard Chris Dorsey / To Walter Broadnax (April 17, 2007)
● Dr. Frank L. Douglas / To Claude Canizares, MIT Vice President for Research (June 1, 2007)
● Dr. Frank L. Douglas / To His MIT Colleagues and Friends (June 1, 2007)
PART V: War
● John Boston / To His Wife (January 12, 1862)
● Lewis Douglass / To Amelia Loguen (July 20, 1863)
● James Henry Gooding / To President Abraham Lincoln (September 28, 1963)
● Nancy Allcorn / To Missouri Provost Marshall (May 16, 1864)
● George Rodgers et al. / To President Abraham Lincoln (August 1864)
● Roanoke Island, North Carolina, Freedmen / To Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton (March 9, 1865)
● M.W. Saddler / To “The Freeman” Newspaper (September 1899)
● Patrick Mason / To Editor of “The Gazette” Newspaper (November 19, 1899)
● Unnamed Soldier / To “New York Age” Editor (May 17, 1900)
● James A. Davis / To Pecola Johnson Davis (October 1, 1918)
● Canute Frankson / To a Dear Friend (July 6, 1937)
● Canute Frankson / To “My Dear” (July 23, 1937)
● Canute Frankson / To “Dearest” (April 13, 1938)
● Leigh Whipper / To Benjamin O. Davis (January 28, 1941)
● Mr. and Mrs. James S. Watson / To Private James L. Watson (January 23, 1943)
● Lenwood Waller / To Pauline Perry (May 7, 1945)
● Bayard Rustin / To Local Board No. 63, New York City (November 16, 1943)
● A. Philip Randolph / To Bayard Rustin (April 17, 1944)
● A. Philip Randolph / To Secretary of Defense George C. Marshall (October 30, 1950)
● Lester B. Granger / To Navy Secretary Dan A. Kimball (October 24, 1952)
● U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke III / To President Richard M. Nixon (October 23, 1969)
● U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke III / To President Richard M. Nixon (May 11, 1970)
● Gen. Colin L. Powell / To the Students of East Pike Elementary School (August 22, 1991)
● Gen. Colin L. Powell / To Friends of Sgt. Maj. William Harrington (May 26, 1944)
● Capt. Eric Mitchell / To Friends and Family (2003)
● Maj. David Scott Harris / To Lois D. Cherry (March 23, 2003)
● Lois D. Cherry / To Maj. David Scott Harris (March 23, 2003)
● Maj. David Scott Harris / To Lois D. Cherry (April 3, 2003)
● Commanding Officer Craig S. Prather, PE, MBA / To My Dalton Family (December 25, 2006)
PART VI: Art and Culture
● Phillis Wheatley / To Gen. George Washington (October 26, 1775)
● Paul Laurence Dunbar / To Alice Ruth Moore (April 17, 1895)
● Alice Ruth Moore / To Paul Laurence Dunbar (May 7, 1895)
● Paul Laurence Dunbar / To Booker T. Washington (January 23, 1902)
● Claude A. Barnett / To Jean Toomer (April 23, 1923)
● Jean Toomer / To Claude A. Barnett (April 29, 1923)
● Countee Cullen / To Langston Hughes (May 14, 1924)
● Countee Cullen / To Langston Hughes (October 8, 1924)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To Roland Hayes (November 30, 1925)
● Roland Hayes / To W.E.B. Du Bois (December 16, 1925)
● Alain Locke / To A’Lelia Walker (October 12, 1928)
● Zora Neale Hurston / To Langston Hughes (December 10, 1929)
● Jean Toomer / To James Weldon Johnson (July 11, 1930)
● James Weldon Johnson / To Jean Toomer (July 26, 1930)
● Langston Hughes / To James Weldon Johnson (August 14, 1931)
● Zora Neale Hurston / To James Weldon Johnson (April 16, 1934)
● Zora Neale Hurston / To Dorothy West (Undated)
● Claude McKay / To James Weldon Johnson (May 31, 1935)
● Ralph Ellison / To Langston Hughes (August 24, 1936)
● Claude McKay / To James Weldon Johnson (April 2, 1937)
● Ralph Ellison / To Langston Hughes (April 27, 1937)
● Arthur A. Schomburg / To Langston Hughes (January 3, 1938)
● Arthur A. Schomburg / To Caterina Jarboro (March 21, 1938)
● Richard Wright / To David L. Cohn, “The Atlantic Monthly” (May 1945)
● Langston Hughes / To John Johnson (October 14, 1945)
● Ralph Ellison / To Langston Hughes (August 25, 1947)
● Ralph Ellison / To Kenneth Burke (August 25, 1947)
● Fredi Washington / To Darr Smith (August 2, 1949)
● James Hubert “Eubie” Blake / To Flournoy E. Miller (October 30, 1949)
● Bobby Short / To Fredi Washington (May 18, 1952)
● Langston Hughes / To Arna Bontemps (February 18, 1953)
● Arna Bontemps / To Langston Hughes (March 4, 1953)
● Ralph Ellison / To Mrs. Turner (March 31, 1953)
● James Hubert “Eubie” Blake / To Flournoy E. Miller (October 9, 1954)
● Josephine Baker / To Langston Hughes (December 23, 1964)
● Alice Walker / To Derrick Bell, Jr. (May 20, 1986)
● William T. Williams / To David C. Driskell (October 5, 1988)
● Howardena Pindell / To Charles Reeve, editor of “Art Papers” (May 30, 2002)
PART VII: Across the Diaspora
● Mack Nichols et al. / To Rev. Alexander Crummel (October 4, 1865)
● George T. Downing / To Alexander Crummel (May 18, 1897)
● Alexander Crummel / To John W. Cromwell (June 15, 1897)
● John R. Archer / To John Edward Bruce (January 17, 1914)
● James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey / To Arthur A. Schomburg (May 28, 1918)
● James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey / To John Edward Bruce (June 28, 1922)
● J.E. Casely Hayford / To John Edward Bruce (November 24, 1923)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To Liberian President Honorable Charles Dunbar Burgess King (January 21, 1924)
● Marcus Garvey / To Negroes of the World (February 10, 1925)
● W.E.B. Du Bois / To Harvey S. Firestone (October 26, 1925)
● Louis-Marie Dantès Bellegarde / To Arthur A. Schomburg (March 11, 1932)
● Arthur A. Schomburg / To Louis-Marie Dantès Bellegarde (May 3, 1934)
● Marcus Garvey / To Norton Cruickshank (June 10, 1937)
● Fredi Washington / To Ademola Johnson (September 23, 1949)
● William Alphaeus Hunton Jr. / To Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah (May 4, 1962)
● Charles Adjei / To Lois Okudzeto (June 2003)
● Acknowledgments
● Index
Item Number
A0419