the AMERICAN HERITAGE
The groundbreaking 1619 Project by the New York Times has demonstrated that that the stories of enslavement and resistance to that oppression are central to the American narrative. These titles represent our efforts to make these stories available to as many readers as possible.
Cover Art by http://www.bukovero.com/
Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois:
They are three of the most important writers in American history. Their personal triumphs over adversity, their rise to prominence, and their incisive writings on the original sin of American experiment, make them quintessentially American. As a result, these three writers are arguably more significant representatives of the American character and the American story, than any other writers prominent in the canon of American literature.
Here readers will find extensive collection of nearly all their work with a linked table of contents in the front matter of the text - a key tool when navigating so many works.
Phillis Wheatley, Ida Wells, Pauline Hopkins, Zora Neale Hurston
They are trailblazers, pioneers, and luminaries. This collection of Black women writers represents some of the best America has to offer in terms of courageous artists and activists willing to speak truth to power. These women did so with grace, elegance, and persuasion. Their work spans the colonial period to the twentieth century, providing a definitive glimpse of what it was like to live and write at the intersection of race, gender, and class in America. Their poetry, prose, and plays provide a valuable perspective to contemporary readers grappling with the complexities of intersectionality today.
The Roots of Afrofuturism
The themes and characteristics of Afrofuturism go back to the late 19th century. These works are haunting not just for their stories and themes but for how relevant they remain today.
The Comet: This post-apocalyptic short story by W.E.B. DuBois features a landscape ravaged by a pandemic that leaves the survivors grappling with the legacies of racism.
Conjure Woman: Charles Chesnutt’s collection of magical stories from the south is evokes comparisons to Nnedi Okorafor and Ben Okri.
Of One Blood: Or, The Hidden Self: Pauline Hopkin’s masterful novel Of One Blood: a tale of intrigue, romance, mysticism, and science that wrestles with the complexities of intersectionality, class, and social divisions.
American Greats Volume 3
The works of these African American writers are essential parts of the American canon. Part of the purpose of the Tenebray Press Classics is to ensure their stories are not obscured by history. In this volume you will find the works of Black luminaries: William Wells Brown, Sutton Griggs, Paul Larwence Dunbar, Daniel W. Culp, James Weldon Johnson, Mifflin Wistar Gibbs, Charles W. Chesnutt. Their writings touch upon themes of bondage, liberty, adversity, resilience, despair, love, and ultimately the triumph of a people to overcome oppression. No library is complete without them. Now yours doesn’t have to be. Be sure to use the hyperlinked table of contents just after the cover and title page to navigate this lengthy collection.
The Upward Path Collection
In 1920 African American scholars put together “The Upward Path,” a collection they would describe in the foreword as “stories and poems by Negro writers, which colored children could read with interest and pleasure and in which they could find a mirror of the traditions and aspirations of their race.” A literary treasure and artifact of American history (albeit with some dated language), “The Upward Path” collection includes contributions from some of the greats of American literature.
Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and more. . .
"If women want any rights more than they's got, why don't they just take them, and not be talking about it." — Sojourner Truth
“There are two things I’ve got a right to, and these are, Death or Liberty — one or the other I mean to have. No one will take me back alive; I shall fight for my liberty, and when the time has come for me to go, the Lord will let them, kill me." — Harriet Tubman
Few stories are as harrowing or heartbreaking as the memoirs of those who suffered the dehumanizing evils of slavery. Their survival stories offer testaments to heroism in the face of daunting odds. In addition to the inspirational stories of two giants of American history, this collection includes the account of Solomon Northup (12 Years a Slave) alongside similar tales but Austin Steward (22 Years a Slave), and Elizabeth Keckley (30 Years a Slave) and more . . .
A History of Military Service
This volume of the Tenebray Press Classics includes timeless works chronicling the heroics of soldiers who served, even in bondage.
PART 1: THE NEGRO IN THE AMERICAN REBELLION: HIS HEROISM AND FIDELITY
PART 2: THE BLACK PHALANX AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, THE WAR OF 1812, AND THE CIVIL WAR
PART 3: ARMY LIFE IN A BLACK REGIMENT (1823-1911)
PART 4: THE STORY OF THE AMERICAN NEGRO IN THE GREAT WORLD WAR HIS SPLENDID RECORD IN THE BATTLE ZONES OF EUROPE
Federal Writers’ Project - Former Slave Interviews Vol. 1
In the late 1930s, before their generation’s first hand accounts of slavery were lost to history, the Federal Writers’ Project sought to capture the “folk narratives” of the Black elders who had experienced the dehumanizing evils of slavery and the rocky, and still incomplete, transition to a freer, more equitable society. Gathered by volunteers throughout the country, these accounts from fifteen states capture the life experiences of African Americans who lived through some of the most turbulent and pivotal years of U.S. history. With so many stories from so many places, this collection is broken into six separate volumes, many of which include photographs of those interviewed.
Federal Writers’ Project - Former Slave Interviews Vol. 2
In the late 1930s, before their generation’s first hand accounts of slavery were lost to history, the Federal Writers’ Project sought to capture the “folk narratives” of the Black elders who had experienced the dehumanizing evils of slavery and the rocky, and still incomplete, transition to a freer, more equitable society. Gathered by volunteers throughout the country, these accounts from fifteen states capture the life experiences of African Americans who lived through some of the most turbulent and pivotal years of U.S. history. With so many stories from so many places, this collection is broken into six separate volumes, many of which include photographs of those interviewed.
Federal Writers’ Project - Former Slave Interviews Vol. 3
In the late 1930s, before their generation’s first hand accounts of slavery were lost to history, the Federal Writers’ Project sought to capture the “folk narratives” of the Black elders who had experienced the dehumanizing evils of slavery and the rocky, and still incomplete, transition to a freer, more equitable society. Gathered by volunteers throughout the country, these accounts from fifteen states capture the life experiences of African Americans who lived through some of the most turbulent and pivotal years of U.S. history. With so many stories from so many places, this collection is broken into six separate volumes, many of which include photographs of those interviewed.
Federal Writers’ Project - Former Slave Interviews Vol. 4
In the late 1930s, before their generation’s first hand accounts of slavery were lost to history, the Federal Writers’ Project sought to capture the “folk narratives” of the Black elders who had experienced the dehumanizing evils of slavery and the rocky, and still incomplete, transition to a freer, more equitable society. Gathered by volunteers throughout the country, these accounts from fifteen states capture the life experiences of African Americans who lived through some of the most turbulent and pivotal years of U.S. history. With so many stories from so many places, this collection is broken into six separate volumes, many of which include photographs of those interviewed.
Federal Writers’ Project - Former Slave Interviews Vol. 5
In the late 1930s, before their generation’s first hand accounts of slavery were lost to history, the Federal Writers’ Project sought to capture the “folk narratives” of the Black elders who had experienced the dehumanizing evils of slavery and the rocky, and still incomplete, transition to a freer, more equitable society. Gathered by volunteers throughout the country, these accounts from fifteen states capture the life experiences of African Americans who lived through some of the most turbulent and pivotal years of U.S. history. With so many stories from so many places, this collection is broken into six separate volumes, many of which include photographs of those interviewed.
Federal Writers’ Project - Former Slave Interviews Vol. 6
In the late 1930s, before their generation’s first hand accounts of slavery were lost to history, the Federal Writers’ Project sought to capture the “folk narratives” of the Black elders who had experienced the dehumanizing evils of slavery and the rocky, and still incomplete, transition to a freer, more equitable society. Gathered by volunteers throughout the country, these accounts from fifteen states capture the life experiences of African Americans who lived through some of the most turbulent and pivotal years of U.S. history. With so many stories from so many places, this collection is broken into six separate volumes, many of which include photographs of those interviewed.