First Published in 1983. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

A Pulitzer Prize-winning history of the mistreatment of black Americans. In this 'precise and eloquent work' - as described in its Pulitzer Prize citation - Douglas A. Blackmon brings to light one of the most shameful chapters in American history - an 'Age of Neoslavery' that thrived in the aftermath of the Civil War through the dawn of World War II. Using a vast record of original documents and personal narratives, Blackmon unearths the lost stories of slaves and their descendants who journeyed into freedom after the Emancipation Proclamation and then back into the shadow of involuntary servitude thereafter. By turns moving, sobering and shocking, this unprecedented account reveals these stories, the companies that profited the most from neoslavery, and the insidious legacy of racism that reverberates today.

Winner of the 2019 Humanities Book of the Year from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Today sharecropping is history, though during World War II and the Great Depression sharecropping was prevalent in Louisiana's southern parishes. Sharecroppers rented farmland and often a small house, agreeing to pay a one-third share of all profit from the sale of crops grown on the land. Sharecropping shaped Louisiana's rich cultural history, and while there have been books published about sharecropping, they share a predominately male perspective. In A Cajun Girl's Sharecropping Years, Viola Fontenot adds the female voice into the story of sharecropping. Spanning from 1937 to 1955, Fontenot describes her life as the daughter of a sharecropper in Church Point, Louisiana, including details of field work as well as the domestic arts and Cajun culture. The account begins with stories from early life, where the family lived off a gravel road near the woods without electricity, running water, or bathrooms, and a mule-drawn wagon was the only means of transportation. To gently introduce the reader to her native language, the author often includes French words along with a succinct definition. This becomes an important part of the story as Fontenot attends primary school, where she experienced prejudice for speaking French, a forbidden and punishable act. Descriptions of Fontenot's teenage years include stories of going to the boucherie; canning blackberries, figs, and pumpkins; using the wood stove to cook dinner; washing and ironing laundry; and making moss mattresses. Also included in the texts are explanations of rural Cajun holiday traditions, courting customs, leisure activities, children's games, and Saturday night house dances for family and neighbors, the fais do-do.

A sharecropper's daughter describes her childhood in Texas in the early years of the twentieth century.

Folk singer and labor organizer John Handcox was born to illiterate sharecroppers, but went on to become one of the most beloved folk singers of the prewar labor movement. This beautifully told oral history gives us Handcox in his own words, recounting a journey that began in the Deep South and went on to shape the labor music tradition.

An account of the author's life growing up on a dirt farm in Texas during the Great Depression, providing details of the ordinary life of rural African-American families during one of the most difficult periods in the country's history.

A Family's history lives and dies according to the dedication of it's storyteller. author Lillian Laird Duff is one such historian and with the encouragement and help of her daughter Linda Duff Niemeir, the stories of this sharecropper's daughter will spark in readers the desire to keep their own family histories alive. Sharecropping in North Louisiana is the true story of the hardships Lillian's family faced during the Great Depression and World War I I. The word-pictures Lillian paints are vivid and will bring to life for readers a time when people were forced to get by with what they had. It will also leave readers hungry for a home-cooked meal, as Lillian recalls food preparation on the farm with such richness and delight that you can almost smell the smoked pork and taste the homemade ice cream and butter. Join Linda in listening to her mother's stories once more.

Without rancor or blame, and even with occasional humor, The Pecan Orchard offers a window into the inequities between blacks and whites in a small southern town still emerging from Jim Crow attitudes.

In the story of "Nicholas Mickelby: Shadow at Lighthouse Point," D. P. Walton put a lot of his curiosity and independence into Nicholas, the main character. Nicholas roams the continent with his family. His dad, an event coordinator, travels abroad during the year as he takes Nicholas, Sis, Mrs. Mickelby, and Fern - their Scottish Collie to many different places. There are plenty of opportunities for adventure in Crescent City. The Shadow, a tall, scary lighthouse watchman, keeps them running. Hidden treasure, caves, and a kite fair are just some of the excitement. Nicholas, with his summer time friends, Jason and Isaak, spy and search for the truth. It is fun, yet scary, in an exciting chase from thieves, bullies, and an old, mean, Mrs. Rumble, a grouchy neighbor, right to the fiery climax! Watch for Nicholas's next adventure, "Stranded on Dolphin Island!"