The Original Black Elite: Daniel Murray and the Story of a Forgotten Era
Jan 2017 · HarperCollins
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About this ebook
New York Times–Bestselling Author: "A compelling biography of Daniel Murray and the group the writer-scholar W.E.B. DuBois called 'The Talented Tenth.'" —Patricia Bell-Scott, National Book Award nominee and author of The Firebrand and the First Lady
In this outstanding cultural biography, the author of A Slave in the White House chronicles a critical yet overlooked chapter in American history: the inspiring rise and calculated fall of the black elite, from Emancipation through Reconstruction to the Jim Crow Era—embodied in the experiences of an influential figure of the time: academic, entrepreneur, political activist, and black history pioneer Daniel Murray.
In the wake of the Civil War, Daniel Murray, born free and educated in Baltimore, was in the vanguard of Washington, D.C.'s black upper class. Appointed Assistant Librarian at the Library of Congress—at a time when government appointments were the most prestigious positions available for blacks—Murray became wealthy as a construction contractor and married a college-educated socialite. The Murrays' social circles included some of the first African-American US senators and congressmen, and their children went to Harvard and Cornell.
Though Murray and others of his time were primed to assimilate into the cultural fabric as Americans first and people of color second, their prospects were crushed by Jim Crow segregation and the capitulation to white supremacist groups by the government, which turned a blind eye to their unlawful—often murderous—acts. Elizabeth Dowling Taylor traces the rise, fall, and disillusionment of upper-class African Americans, revealing that they were a representation not of hypothetical achievement but what could be realized by African Americans through education and equal opportunities.
"Brilliantly researched . . . an emotional story of how race and class have long played a role in determining who succeeds and who fails." — The New York Times Book Review
"Brings insight to the rise and fall of America's first educated black people." — Time
"Deftly demonstrates how the struggle for racial equality has always been complicated by the thorny issue of class." —Patricia Bell-Scott, author of The Firebrand and the First Lady
"Reads like a sweeping epic." — Library Journal
In this outstanding cultural biography, the author of A Slave in the White House chronicles a critical yet overlooked chapter in American history: the inspiring rise and calculated fall of the black elite, from Emancipation through Reconstruction to the Jim Crow Era—embodied in the experiences of an influential figure of the time: academic, entrepreneur, political activist, and black history pioneer Daniel Murray.
In the wake of the Civil War, Daniel Murray, born free and educated in Baltimore, was in the vanguard of Washington, D.C.'s black upper class. Appointed Assistant Librarian at the Library of Congress—at a time when government appointments were the most prestigious positions available for blacks—Murray became wealthy as a construction contractor and married a college-educated socialite. The Murrays' social circles included some of the first African-American US senators and congressmen, and their children went to Harvard and Cornell.
Though Murray and others of his time were primed to assimilate into the cultural fabric as Americans first and people of color second, their prospects were crushed by Jim Crow segregation and the capitulation to white supremacist groups by the government, which turned a blind eye to their unlawful—often murderous—acts. Elizabeth Dowling Taylor traces the rise, fall, and disillusionment of upper-class African Americans, revealing that they were a representation not of hypothetical achievement but what could be realized by African Americans through education and equal opportunities.
"Brilliantly researched . . . an emotional story of how race and class have long played a role in determining who succeeds and who fails." — The New York Times Book Review
"Brings insight to the rise and fall of America's first educated black people." — Time
"Deftly demonstrates how the struggle for racial equality has always been complicated by the thorny issue of class." —Patricia Bell-Scott, author of The Firebrand and the First Lady
"Reads like a sweeping epic." — Library Journal
New York Times–Bestselling Author: "A compelling biography of Daniel Murray and the group the writer-scholar W.E.B. DuBois called 'The Talented Tenth.'" —Patricia Bell-Scott, National Book Award nominee and author of The Firebrand and the First Lady
In this outstanding cultural biography, the au...
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8 reviews
Patricia
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February 6, 2017
Educational and Informing
6 people found this review helpful
About the author
Elizabeth Dowling Taylor is the New York Times bestselling author of A Slave in the White House: Paul Jennings and the Madisons. She received her PhD from the University of California at Berkeley, and over her twenty-two-year career in museum education and research has held the positions of director of interpretation at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and director of education at James Madison's Montpelier. She is now an independent scholar and lecturer and a fellow at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities in Charlottesville.
Elizabeth Dowling Taylor is the New York Times bestselling author of A Slave in the White House: Paul Jennings and the Madisons. She received her PhD from the University of California at Berkeley, and over her twenty-two-year career in museum education and research has held the positions of direc...
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