Ella Josephine Baker was among the most influential strategists of the most important social movement in modern U.S. history, the civil rights movement. With a career that spanned decades, and which began long before the civil rights movement took on widespread, populist appeal, Ella Baker was one of the few women leading the charge for racial equality from the 1930's until her death in 1986.

Jackie Robinson's story is not only a compelling drama of heroism, but also as a template of the African American freedom struggle. A towering athletic talent, Robinson's greater impact was on preparing the way for the civil rights reform wave following WWII. But Robinson's story has always been far more complex than the public perception has allowed. Brooklyn Dodgers executive Branch Rickey famously told the young Robinson that he was "looking for...

Profiles Wilma Rudolph, who overcame childhood polio to become an Olympic medal-winning runner.

Examines the life and career of the Baptist minister who supported the use of nonviolent resistance to discrimination and describes his involvement in many important events in the civil rights movement.

"W. E.B. Du Bois was one of the most prolific African American authors, scholars, and leaders of the twentieth century, but none of his previous biographies have so practically and comprehensively introduced the man and his impact on American history as noted historian Shawn Alexander's W.E.B. Du Bois: An American Intellectual and Activist. Alexander tells Du Bois' story in a clear and concise manner, exploring his racial strategy, civil rights activity,...

A biography of tennis champion Arthur Ashe, covering his personal life and his sports career, as well as his struggles with racism and AIDS.

A biography of the eighteenth-century African-American who taught himself mathematics and astronomy and helped survey what would become Washington, D.C.