Bøger af Sarah Wesley

A short history of an Historic African-American Community in West Chester, Pennsylvania, This self-guided walking tour is illustrated with numerous photographs, many of them offering a rare glimpse into the 19th-century lives of early black entrepreneurs. The book also documents the Civil Rights era: Bayard Rustin, famous as the chief tactician of nonviolent action and the organizer of the March of 1963, was born and raised in the East End.

So named because this book covers the business community of West Chester, PA., which was "uptown" from historic black neighborhoods, Walking the "Uptown" was designed to be both a scholarly resource and a walking tour documenting the lives of 19th-century black entrepreneurs and the many "firsts" in the 20th century black business community. The 90-page book also includes an extensive appendix with profiles of the early residents who were part of the northern migration of free blacks and former slaves before and after the Civil War. A particular focus is on those members of the black business community who operated oyster bars and catering businesses "Uptown," but who were eventually forced to relocate to the "East End," the town's historic black community. The book also documents the Civil Rights era. West Chester native Bayard Rustin formulated many of his tactics of nonviolent action in West Chester.

In the past, the "East End" of this small Chester County, Pa. town was not exactly an ideal residential community. From the mid-1800s and into the 20th century, the majority of black residents lived alongside noisy work yards including that of lumber, coal, brick, and wheelwrights, as well as dangerous gas works, tar manufacturers, round-the-clock machine shops, ice storage facilities, and busy freight loading docks and the central rail terminus for passengers traveling to and from Philadelphia. Still, the story of the East End is one of independence-one that began when the community was settled by free black men, veterans of the Civil War "colored" troops, and southern families who moved north to raise their children among the sympathetic Quakers. Now in its second edition, this scholarly resource (and walking tour) is illustrated with numerous photographs, many of them offering a rare glimpse into the lives of early black entrepreneurs. The book also documents the Civil Rights era: Bayard Rustin, famous as the chief tactician of nonviolent action and the organizer of the March of 1963, was born and raised in the East End. Rustin also formulated many of his ideas of political action in West Chester, at first testing out strategies in the borough's restaurants and stores, and later leading outright protests at the court house. This second edition includes an extensive appendix that includes biographical material and data from early census records.