Description: This two volume study covers the entire spectrum of the black experience in Kentucky from earliest settlement to 1980. Mandated & partially funded by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1978, this path-breaking work is the most comprehensive consideration of the subject ever undertaken. The authors have made effective use of numerous primary sources such as slave diaries, Freedman's Bureau records, church minutes, & collections of personal papers. Volume 1 traces the role of blacks in the explorations of Christopher Gist & Daniel Boone & the institutionalization of slavery in the Commonwealth through emancipation & the beginning of legal segregation. Volume 2 explores the rising tide of racism at the turn of the twentieth century to the civil rights movement in the later decades. The volumes cover such topics as work, living conditions, religion, education, health, the family, & politics. This work fills a long-recognized void in Kentucky history & provides a fascinating picture of the triumphs & tragedies, accomplishments & defeats of the race in its struggle to achieve freedom & equality.

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