Title: African & African American Studies Professor Publishes Book
It covers Black Niagaran history from the Underground Railroad to the Era of Urban Renewal. Due to a limited primary and secondary source base, the author immersed himself in the Black Niagaran community for a number of years, recording sixty-two formal interviews and over eighty informal interviews, which allowed him to obtain “the voice of the people.”
This study contributes to urban histography in two significant ways: It is a history of a racial group in a small city. Most African American urban studies are on large cities. And the author’s interviews or “inside-out approach” goes beyond traditional methods of historical research (e.g., archival data, newspapers, census reports, government documents, city maps, etc.) to tell a history that is vibrant and multidimensional.