Contains eleven essays that address issues faced by African-American workers since the late-nineteenth century, such as economic insecurity, the rise and fall of NAACP, and the civil rights movement.

"While there have been many accounts of the lives and conditions of blacks under slavery, this is the first documentary work to include substantial material on free black workers. It draws together a vast range of materials from newspapers, census reports, testimonies, speeches, letters, and many other sources to tell the story of this long-neglected side of black life. ; Each volume in the series includes an introduction, notes, and an index"--Book jacket.

"While there have been many accounts of the lives and conditions of blacks under slavery, this is the first documentary work to include substantial material on free black workers. It draws together a vast range of materials from newspapers, census reports, testimonies, speeches, letters, and many other sources to tell the story of this long-neglected side of black life. ; Each volume in the series includes an introduction, notes, and an index"--Book jacket.