{"product_id":"the-first-migrants-how-black-homesteaders-quest-for-land-and-freedom-heralded-americas-great-migration-9781496230843","title":"The First Migrants  How Black Homesteaders Quest","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe First Migrants\u003c\/i\u003e explores the narrative histories of Black homesteaders in the Great Plains and the larger themes that characterize their shared experiences.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe First Migrants\u003c\/i\u003e is an important contribution to black history and the larger history of the American West.\"—\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A meticulously researched account of Black homesteading on the Great Plains in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. . . . Utilizing a wealth of primary sources and accounts from descendants, the authors make palpable the homesteaders’ relentless drive toward freedom through self-reliance. It’s a revealing look at an underrepresented chapter in American history.”—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe First Migrants\u003c\/i\u003e is a highly readable, lively book that not only contextualizes the homesteading movement of African Americans in the West but does so by highlighting individuals involved, showcasing personal stories within a decades-long movement. This superbly researched book brings to life those living out their dreams and experiencing their nightmares on the Great Plains.\"—Bryan Jack, \u003ci\u003eMissouri Historical Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Western expansion of the United States is often portrayed as an endeavor undertaken by primarily European pioneers. The contribution of African Americans, especially formerly enslaved people, is little known or discussed. \u003ci\u003eThe First Migrants\u003c\/i\u003e heralds the contributions of people frequently marginalized in American history. This story of the African American homesteaders who helped settle America’s Great Plains is informative, comprehensive, and very personal. It shouts, ‘We were there.’”—Catherine Meehan Blount, granddaughter of DeWitty homesteaders\u003cbr\u003e“This amazingly researched work will make a meaningful and needed contribution to African American history, as well as to our understanding of how non-Indigenous Americans, Black and white, settled the Great Plains. Its revelation of the multiracial aspect of homesteading on the plains, moreover, will make a most important addition to the general body of American post–Civil War history.”—Kenneth M. Hamilton, author of \u003ci\u003eBooker T. Washington in American Memory\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“As a child, I learned only a bit of my family’s homesteading story. \u003ci\u003eThe First Migrants\u003c\/i\u003e weaves it together with the stories of other Black families, turning sparse records and anecdotes into a living history.”—Elizabeth Burden, Black homesteader descendant and Tucson artist\u003cbr\u003e“African Americans have been absent in the annals of Western history. Their history is rich and diverse, and speaks to their tenacity, strength, and determination. Their lives are written in the soils of the Great Plains. The winds that sweep its prairies no longer silence their voices. . . . As a descendant of Nicodemus’s first settlers, I am honored to be a part of this still-unfolding story.”—Angela Bates, executive director of the Nicodemus Historical Society\u003cbr\u003e“Finally, a spotlight shines on Black homesteaders in the Great Plains and in the West. Finally, these courageous Americans are remembered and honored. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, [this] exceptional book is a deeply moving, sensitive portrait of individuals and communities that shaped the country and decades of descendants. Impossible to put down, \u003ci\u003eThe First Migrants\u003c\/i\u003e achieves what few books do: it enriches and changes the conversation about the American experience.”—Ann Weisgarber, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Personal History of Rachel DuPree\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe First Migrants\u003c\/i\u003e illustrates an epic event in our nation’s history that is often missed, overlooked, or misunderstood—the story of our nation’s Black homesteaders. Through personal, gripping stories . . . \u003ci\u003eThe First Migrants\u003c\/i\u003e reveals the path these American citizens traveled.”—Mark Engler, former superintendent of Homestead National Historical Park\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eList of Illustrations\u003cbr\u003e Preface by Angela Bates\u003cbr\u003e Acknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e Note on Terminology\u003cbr\u003e 1. Land! \u003cbr\u003e 2. Push and Pull\u003cbr\u003e 3. A New Start at Nicodemus\u003cbr\u003e 4. Nicodemus Flourishes\u003cbr\u003e 5. Henry and Mary Burden’s Flight to Freedom\u003cbr\u003e 6. Homesteading Alone\u003cbr\u003e 7. DeWitty and the Sandhills\u003cbr\u003e 8. The Speese Family Odyssey\u003cbr\u003e 9. Opportunity in Sully County\u003cbr\u003e 10. Tragedy and Failure at Empire\u003cbr\u003e 11. Oscar Micheaux, “The Homesteader” \u003cbr\u003e 12. Sand and Success at Dearfield\u003cbr\u003e 13. Struggles in the Desert at Blackdom\u003cbr\u003e 14. Black Homesteaders and the Great Migration\u003cbr\u003e 15. Gen H’s Legacy\u003cbr\u003e Epilogue: Where Are the Black Farmers? \u003cbr\u003e Appendix: Black Homesteaders and White Racism\u003cbr\u003e Notes\u003cbr\u003e Bibliography\u003cbr\u003e Index","brand":"University of Nebraska Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49409240334679,"sku":"9781496230843","price":26.09,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781496230843.jpg?v=1730506102","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-first-migrants-how-black-homesteaders-quest-for-land-and-freedom-heralded-americas-great-migration-9781496230843","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}