The Colored Conventions Movement: Black Organizing in the Nineteenth Century(The John Hope Franklin Series in African American History and Culture)

This volume of essays is the first to focus on the Colored Conventions movement, the nineteenth century's longest campaign for Black civil rights. Well before the founding of the NAACP and other twentieth-century pillars of the civil rights movement, tens of thousands of Black leaders organized state and national conventions across North America. Over seven decades, they advocated for social justice and against slavery, protesting state-sanctioned and mob violence while demanding voting, legal, labor, and educational rights. While Black-led activism in this era is often overshadowed by the attention paid to the abolition movement, this collection centers Black activist networks, influence, and institution building. Collectively, these essays highlight the vital role of the Colored Conventions in the lives of thousands of early organizers, including many of the most famous writers, ministers, politicians, and entrepreneurs in the long history of Black activism. Contributors: Erica L. Ball, Kabria Baumgartner, Daina Ramey Berry, Joan L. Bryant, Jim Casey, Benjamin Fagan, P. Gabrielle Foreman, Eric Gardner, Andre E. Johnson, Cheryl Janifer LaRoche, Sarah Lynn Patterson, Carla L. Peterson, Jean Pfaelzer, Selena R. Sanderfer, Derrick R. Spires, Jermaine Thibodeaux, Psyche Williams-Forson, and Jewon Woo.

About the Author :
P. Gabrielle Foreman is the Paterno Chair of Liberal Arts and professor of English, African American studies, and History at the Pennsylvania State University. Jim Casey is assistant professor of African American studies, history, and English at the Pennsylvania State University. Sarah Lynn Patterson is assistant professor of English at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Review :
"The Colored Conventions Movement significantly reframes our understanding of nineteenth-century Black history. . . . Through its meticulous exploration of Black-led organizing, the volume corrects historical oversights and challenges readers to reconsider what they know about nineteenth-century activism."--North Carolina Historical Review "[The Colored Conventions Movement] productively expands our understanding of early Black writing by highlighting the significance of collaborative writing modes that focused on community and social justice, modes that represented a decisive element of African Americans' efforts to secure equitable rights."--American Literary History "The [Colored Conventions] project serves as a brilliant example of scholarly crowdsourcing. . . . CCP allows us finally to do justice to the overdetermined and multidimensional legacy that nineteenth-century Black activism bequeathed the twentieth and twenty-first centuries."--Early American Literature "This collection captures an important piece of African American history. . . . Given that African American history is often difficult to research through conventional resources, the contributors are to be commended for successfully mining unconventional resources, such as the Conventions' minutes and African American periodicals and their advertisements. . . . Highly recommended."--Choice Reviews "Through these essays, the editors masterfully portray the CCP's aim to realize the linkages of Black intellectual work and social activism that the conventions represented, individually and sequentially, in the 19th century. . . . A must for all students, researchers, and general readers with an interest in Black lives, this essential overview of the CCP's legacy offers fresh understanding of the history of organized Black activism and commitment to community efforts for equal rights. Highest recommendation."--Library Journal