The Original Black Elite, Elizabeth Dowling Taylor
The Original Black Elite, Elizabeth Dowling Taylor
List: $29.99 | Sale: $21.00
Club: $14.99

The Original Black Elite
Daniel Murray and the Story of a Forgotten Era

Author: Elizabeth Dowling Taylor

Narrator: Karen Chilton

Unabridged: 16 hr 45 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 01/15/2018


Synopsis

From New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Dowling Taylor comes this riveting chronicle of a critical yet overlooked chapter in American history: the inspiring rise and calculated fall of the black elite, from Emancipation through Reconstruction to the Jim Crow Era-embodied in the experiences of an influential figure of the time, academic, entrepreneur, and political activist and black history pioneer Daniel Murray. "Brilliantly researched... Taylor knows how to weave an emotional story of how race and class have long played a role in determining who succeeds and who fails."-New York Times Book Review. This cultural biography tells the enthralling story of the high-achieving black elites who thrived in the nation's capital during Reconstruction. Daniel Murray (1851-1925), an assistant librarian at the Library of Congress, was a prominent member of this glorious class. Murray's life was reflective of those who were well-off at the time. This social circle included African American educators, ministers, lawyers, doctors, entrepreneurs, US senators and representatives, and other government officials. Among the luminaries were Francis and Archibald Grimke, Blanche Bruce, Pinckney Pinchback, Robert and Mary Church Terrell, Booker T. Washington, and W. E. B. DuBois. The elite were primed to assimilate into the cultural fabric as Americans first and people of color second. Education was a pearl of great pride, and they sent their children to the best schools-Phillips Academy, Cornell, and Harvard. They belonged to exclusive clubs, cultivated genteel manners, owned opulent homes, threw elaborate parties, dressed to the nines, and summered in special enclaves. The rug was pulled from under all African Americans when they were betrayed by the federal government as the cost of reconciliation with the South. In response to renewed oppression, Murray and others in his class fought back, establishing themselves as inspiring race activists. Elizabeth Dowling Taylor's powerful work brings to light a dark chapter of race relations that too many have yet to own.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Shavon

I am an avid consumer of Black American history. In my estimation, The Original Black Elite, reads like a graduate dissertation or research project that sort of meanders on various tangents without fully covering a discrete topic. The book is two parts biography of Daniel Murray (1851-1925) who gath......more

I received an uncorrected proof copy of this book from HarperCollins. This work of non-fiction covers the life of academic, political activist, and black history pioneer Daniel Murray, whose life embodies the rise and fall of the black elite from the time of Emancipation through the Jim Crow era. Da......more

Goodreads review by Ari

"Daniel Murray was 'a race man to the core.' If he took any pride in being the first Black man to join this organization or the only one to be invited to that social occasion, his greater goal, his long-range vision, was to be in the vanguard of merit-based recognition for every American of color. T......more

Goodreads review by Robin

I listened to this as an audio book and it was great! The reader is fabulous, making the emotional impact of the story more relatable. This book shares the history of several families of black Americans after the Civil War who advanced their lives through self-reliance. It is a part of history I nev......more