The Story of the Negro

First published in 1909, The Story of the Negro is an account of Africans and Americans of African descent before, during and after slavery by one of the most important figures in the campaign for racial equality in the U.S.A.

Beginning with a description of the African heritage of black Americans, Booker T. Washington goes on to focus on the history of the Atlantic slave trade and how slaves were exploited in North America, before detailing how slavery came to be abolished there and the effect it had on the African American population who found themselves finally free. His description of "The Negro as a Freeman' is particularly important because Washington was himself born a slave, freed in 1865 at the age of nine, and witnessed this period in American history at first hand. Authoritative and broad in scope, The Story of the Negro is one of the most important books about African Americans and their place in American society.