Limit this search to....

George Washington Williams: A Biography Revised Edition
Contributor(s): Franklin, John Hope (Author)
ISBN: 0822321645     ISBN-13: 9780822321644
Publisher: Duke University Press
OUR PRICE:   $28.45  
Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats
Published: September 1998
Qty:
Annotation: "Mr. Franklin's quest . . . offers a unique view of the historian as detective as well as scholar. . . . Fascinating and engaging reading."--Ira Berlin, "New York Times Book Review"

"An extraordinary accomplishment . . . a model biography. . . ."--John W. Blassingame
"A major publishing event."--Robert A. Hill, "Chicago Tribune Book World"
"A superb biography."--Denise Dennis, "Philadelphia Inquirer
"

"In the historiography of African Americans, Williams stands not only as a pioneer, but as an author whose work has held its value. The conjunction of these two giants makes Franklin on Williams a work of enduring worth."--Nell Irvin Painter, author of "Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol"

Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Historical
- History | United States - General
Dewey: B
LCCN: 98003443
Physical Information: 1.12" H x 6.04" W x 9.04" (1.34 lbs) 392 pages
Themes:
- Chronological Period - 1851-1899
- Chronological Period - 19th Century
- Ethnic Orientation - African American
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
In George Washington Williams, John Hope Franklin reconstructs the life of the controversial, self-made black intellectual who wrote the first history of African Americans in the United States. Awarded the Clarence L. Holte Literary Prize, this book traces Franklin's forty-year quest for Williams's story, a story largely lost to history until this volume was first published in 1985. The result, part biography and part social history, is a unique consideration of a pioneering historian by his most distinguished successor.
Williams, who lived from 1849 to 1891, had a remarkable career as soldier, minister, journalist, lawyer, politician, freelance diplomat, and African traveler, as well as a historian. While Franklin reveals the accomplishments of this neglected figure and emphasizes the racism that curtailed Williams's many talents, he also highlights the personal weaknesses that damaged Williams's relationships and career. Williams led the way in presenting African American history accurately through the use of oral history and archival research, sought to legitimize it as a field of historical study, and spoke out in support of an American Negro Historical Society and as a critic of European imperialism in Africa. He also became erratic and faithless to his family and creditors and died at the age of forty-one, destitute and alienated from family and friends. George Washington Williams is nothing less than a classic biography of a brilliant though flawed individual whose History of the Negro Race in America remains a landmark in African American history and American intellectual history.