Description: Nicodemus was a microcosm of all the issues facing black Americans in the late nineteenth century, and Hall, McCabe, and Niles are archetypes for powerful philosophies that have persisted into the twenty-first century. This study of their ideas and the ways they shaped Nicodemus offers a novel perspective on the most famous post-Civil War African American community in the West.
Brief description: Award-winning novelist and independent historian Charlotte Hinger is the author of several articles and encyclopedia entries on African American history in the West and the novels Come Spring, Deadly Descent, Lethal Lineage, and Hidden Heritage.
Review Quotes: "Rich in detail and carefully researched, Charlotte Hinger's fine study illuminates the growth, development, and maturation of Nicodemus, Kansas, the most successful black town established during the 'Kansas Exodus.' Nicodemus also reveals the paradoxical race relations that African Americans experienced, the voices of ordinary people, the role that American Indians played in assisting the earliest black settlers, and their quest for full equality and civil rights. Historians of western and African American history will welcome and embrace this book."--Albert S. Broussard, author of Expectations of Equality: A History of Black Westerners