The Journal of Negro History, Volume 4, 1919

About this book

The Journal of Negro History, Volume 4 (1919) gathers a series of contemporary reports, speeches, and Senate testimony concerning the post‑Reconstruction migration of African Americans from the Southern states to the North. The volume opens with a succession of footnoted excerpts that first describe vivid chromolithographs of a Kansas “Freedman’s Home,” then present Frederick Douglass’s vehement opposition to the so‑called “exodus,” and finally reproduce the full text of a Senate resolution and its ensuing investigative report on the movement. These pieces are linked by their focus on the political and social arguments of the era, offering a documentary snapshot of how newspapers, politicians, and Black leaders framed the debate over migration, labor, and civil rights in the late 1870s.

The language is formal and reportorial, reflecting the journalistic and legislative style of the 1880s and 1890s while retaining the scholarly tone of a historical periodical. Readers interested in Reconstruction‑era politics, African‑American press history, or the early civil‑rights discourse will find the volume’s primary‑source material and detailed Senate proceedings especially rewarding. It appeals to scholars, students, and general readers who appreciate dense, document‑driven narratives that illuminate the complexities of race, migration, and policy in the United States at the turn of the century.