Human Tradition in the Civil Rights Movement

In this collection of 16 essays, contributors steer away from the "great man" theories and treatments to focus on grassroots actions by those closest to the issues--ordinary and yet extraordinary men and women who worked locally but had national impact. Working through 1954 to 1965, biographies include those of Abraham Galloway, Homer Plessy, and James Vardaman as hope of civil rights is born, Ida Wells in pursuit of higher law, A. Philip Randolph seeking reconciliation of labor and the new politics, Lucy Randolph Mason and the frontline women, Amzie Moore in Mississippi, James Lawson in Nashville and Charles Sherrod in Albany, along with other unsung heroes in the African-American community and those who extended the fight into other ethnic and gender groups. Annotation c2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Susan M. Glisson is director of the Institute for Racial Reconciliation and assistant professor of southern studies at the University of Mississippi.