Plainfield's African-American: From Northern Slavery to Church Freedom

by Leonard Bethel, Frederick Johnson

Overview

The history of how blacks came to America is generally not found in city hall documents, but in the old Black churches and in the hearts and minds of elderly blacks who attended those churches. Through oral history and participant observation, this book attempts to unfold the story of what really occurred in the development of northeastern American towns and cities through the events that took place in Plainfield, New Jersey. This town was chosen for the study because of its large African-American population (65-70%), and the concentration of churches which were established around 1900.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761808480
Publisher:	University Press of America
Publication date:	03/19/1998
Pages:	180
Product dimensions:	5.97(w) x 8.87(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Leonard L. Bethel is Associate Professor of African Studies at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Editorial Reviews

An interesting case study that chronicles the development of an African-American community through its churches in the late nineteenth and the twentieth centuries.

Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture

An interesting case study that chronicles the development of an African-American community through its churches in the late nineteenth and the twentieth centuries.

Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture

An interesting case study that chronicles the development of an African-American community through its churches in the late nineteenth and the twentieth centuries.

Church History

Looks at the African American population of Plainfield, N.J. through its historically Black churches and shows how Blacks were first introduced to the area through the slave trade. Using oral history and the participation of elderly Black people who attended Plainfield's churches, this study unfolds the story of what really occurred in the development of northeastern American towns and cities. Plainfield was chosen for the study because of its large African-American population (65-70%), and the group of churches which were established before and a little after 1900. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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