Hustling up to the front door, package in hand, I rang the doorbell. An older African-American man invited me in out of the cold. I stepped inside a small entryway and saw a painting of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I had never before seen a portrait of these Civil Rights heroes in a person’s home.
Years later, I received a copy of Outside In: African-American History in Iowa, 1838-2000, edited by Bill Silag. Outside In details the struggle for African-Americans to gain full citizenship rights, going all the way back to Iowa’s territorial days, and continuing well into the 20th Century.
Covering nearly every aspect of life, it contain stories of prominent individuals as well as ordinary people who displayed courage, strength, and determination.
Historian Tom Morain writes in a thoughtful introduction:
The human family is a family, and what affects one member affects all. Rules for children shape roles for parents. Changing norms for women affect men. What consumers want creates new challenges and opportunities for producers. And the story of African-Americans in Iowa is the story of all Iowans.
Dr. Spencer R. Crew, former director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, writes in the preface:
Our stories are joined together in the complex tapestry of American experience that is our collective history.
Dr. Crew’s eloquent words resound with me. I also appreciate the example of historian Carter G. Woodson. When he was a Harvard student, his professors doubted “the importance of the role of African-Americans in the development of the nation.” Those professors “felt Woodson was wasting his time.” But he persevered and wrote a dissertation on African-American history.
Dr. Woodson founded Negro History Week which evolved into Black History Month. Dr. Crews explains that this event “encouraged everyone, not just those with formal academic training, to think of themselves as historians.”
My recommendation
This 580-page book contains good illustrations. Furthermore, the index makes it easy to find interesting essays. I highly recommend Outside In.
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Margaret Garrison
18 Feb 2019Because I helped him to gather info & pic) for this book I was promised one. I never did get it.
David Connon
18 Feb 2019I’m sorry to hear that, Margaret Garrison.
L.M. Elm
19 Feb 2019Great book. Thanks for posting a review.
David Connon
19 Feb 2019Hi, L.M. Elm.
It’s my pleasure. I’m glad I could review a fine book.