African American in South Africa

Ralph Bunche, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950, traveled to South Africa for three months in 1937. His notes, which have been skillfully compiled and annotated by historian Robert Edgar, provide unique insights on a segregated society.Robert R. Edgar is professor of African studies at Howard University and the editor of An African American in South Africa: The Travel Notes of Ralph J. Bunche, also available from Ohio University Press.

"A firsthand account of South Africa as experienced by a black American in the 1930s in itself merits interest. But it becomes even more important when written by such a key figure in 20th-century history as Bunche.… This fascinating, well-edited work belongs in all collections on the history of South Africa or African Americans." (Library Journal) In little more than three months, Bunche saw a great deal -- urban locations, gold mines, tribal reserves, schools, missions -- and talked with a wide variety of people…. [His] reactions to South African segregation -- 'an entire country ridden by race prejudice,' he remarked, 'unlike U.S. in that there is absolutely no escape at all' -- make fascinating reading. (Journal of American History) “Nothing short of magical. The fifty pages of notes and annotations alone are worth the price of the volume, providing a virtual directory of social and political movements in the period.” (Journal of African History)