Black Toledo

The African American experience includes urbanization, industrialization, and more. This book organizes and contextualizes more than 100 source documents to tell the story of more than 200 years of economic development, cultural creativity, and political struggle in Toledo, Ohio.

An ambitious, honest portrait of the Black experience in flyover country. One of The St. Louis Post Dispatch's Best Books of 2020. Black Americans have been among the hardest hit by the rapid deindustrialization and

Award-winning African-American playwright August Wilson created a cultural chronicle of black America through such works as Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, and Two Trains Running. The authentic ring of wit, anecdote, homily, and plaint proved that a self-educated Pittsburgh ghetto native can grow into a revered conduit for a century of black achievement. He forced readers and audiences to examine the despair generated by poverty and racism by exploring African-American heritage and experiences over the course of the twentieth century. This literary companion provides the reader with a source of basic data and analysis of characters, dates, events, allusions, staging strategies and themes from the work of one of America’s finest playwrights. The text opens with an annotated chronology of Wilson’s life and works, followed by his family tree. Each of the 166 encyclopedic entries that make up the body of the work combines insights from a variety of sources along with generous citations; each concludes with a selected bibliography on such relevant subjects as the blues, Malcolm X, irony, roosters, and Gothic mode. Charts elucidate the genealogies of Wilson’s characters, the Charles, Hedley, and Maxson families, and account for weaknesses in Wilson’s female characters. Two appendices complete the generously cross-referenced work: a timeline of events in Wilson’s life and those of his characters, and a list of 40 topics for projects, composition, and oral analysis.

Chuck Harmons life story symbolizes and transcends our countrys struggle for civil rights and equality. From his humble beginnings as one of the 12 children of Sherman and Rosa Harmon in Southern Indiana, to the pressure of death threats as a Cincinnati player, this gentlemen big leaguer is an example of those African American pioneers who helped make a mockery of hate and injustice with integrity, decency, and iron will. From the stories of an early meeting with Babe Ruth to rooting for his beloved Cincinnati Reds today, Chuck Harmons compelling life story symbolizes all that is good about Americas pastime and its oldest professional franchise. His great-great grandfather fought and died for freedom in the Civil War. Less than 100 years later, Chuck Harmon was still fighting for justice - not with a gun and bayonet, but with a golden glove and hot bat. Chuck Harmon is proud to be called, Cincinnatis First Black Red. This book is an important look at the parallel benchmarks in baseball and civil rights, and Chuck Harmon is one of the quiet patriots who helped make America truly a country where all men and women should expect to be treated equally.