Description
Book SynopsisJohn Brown Russwurm (1799-1851) played a pioneering role as an educator, abolitionist, editor, government official, emigrationist and colonizationist. He is the first African American graduate of Maine's Bowdoin College, and co-founder of "Freedom's Journal". This title presents an account of Russwurm's life.
Trade Review"The discerning light that James focuses on Russwurm is a significant contribution to the literature of the antislavery movement" -- H. Shapiro * Choice Magazine *
"In this clearly written and widely researched biography Winston James has brought back from unwarranted historical obscurity the life and work of the Pan-Africanist, John Brown Russwurm, a pioneer in the struggle for freedom and equality in the US and Africa in the first half of the nineteenth century." -- Richard Blackett,author of Building an Antislavery Wall: Black Americans in the Atlantic Abolitionist Movement, 1830-1860
"This is the most authoritative scholarly introduction so far to the life of John Russwurm, that enigmatic founder of black nationalism, and the most accessible sampling of his works. Professor James has performed a service to the profession." -- Wilson J. Moses,author of The Golden Age of Black Nationalism, 1850-1925
"Winston James sensitive, probing, and absorbing portrait of John Brown Russwurm restores this pivotal but little-known activist to the prominent status he deserves. Editor, educator, abolitionist, colonizationist, Pan-African polemicistRusswurm assumed all of these roles in a life that stretched from the Caribbean to Canada and America to Africa. James' insightful book shows how he moved from place to place, and cause to cause, with seeming ease.
The Struggles of John Brown Russwurm will delight and please both scholars and students of the Black Atlantic for some time to come." -- Richard S. Newman,author of Freedoms Prophet: Bishop Richard Allen, the AME Church, and the Black Founding Fathers
Table of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgments A Note on Quotations Part I Prologue 1 From Boy to Man 2 Freedom's Journal: Pleading Our Own Cause 3 Quitting America and Its Cost 4 "We Have Found a Haven": In the Land of His Fathers 5 Governor Russwurm: The Cape Palmas Years Epilogue: Russwurm in His Rightful Place Part II Editorial Note 1 Early Writings 2 Writings from Freedom's Journal Part A. Uplift, Abolitionism, and Opposition to Colonization To Our Patrons Part B. Our Views Are Materially Altered: Looking toward Liberia 3 Writings from Liberia Part A. First Impressions: Two Early Letters from Liberia Part B. Writings from the Liberia Herald Part C. Letters Home from Afar to a Brother Part D. Governor Russwurm: Departing from the Old and Beaten Paths Part E. Sometimes We Despond a Little: Some Candid and Private Thoughts on the Liberian Project Part F. Home from Home: A Visit to Maine and After Part G. "None in Your Employ Eat the Bread of Idleness in Africa": A Governor's Dispatches Notes Index About the Author
