Rufus Jones Jr. is an orchestral conductor, published author, and educator. His research has focused on African American classical musicians. Dr. Jones has conducted orchestras of all levels for over two decades and is in demand as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator.

• ForewordAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPrologueChapter 1: West Indians in HarlemChapter 2: Dean Dixon School of MusicChapter 3: The Damrosch SchoolChapter 4: Pursuing the DreamChapter 5: Eleanor RooseveltChapter 6: The Plastic CarrotChapter 7: Search for DemocracyChapter 8: Black and WhiteChapter 9: ExodusChapter 10: MaryChapter 11: Drama, Down UnderChapter 12: PragueChapter 13: Sojourn HomeChapter 14: I’m Not Tired YetChapter 15: RithaEpilogue: On My ShouldersAppendix 1: In MemoriamAppendix 2: Conductors HandbookSelected BibliographyIndex About the Author

[Dean Dixon's] story is so interesting yet largely unknown that it makes for a fascinating read. . . .[Dixon's] life is an inspirational story of a man overcoming the linked adversities of poverty and racism to rise to heights in his profession that no black man before him had reached in the United States, and within that framework, Jones tells the story well, and certainly more thoroughly than anybody before him, which is why this book is both needed and recommended.