The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University. He has edited several major reference works, including Dictionary of African Biography, African American Lives, Africana, and African American National Biography. In addition, he is Editor in Chief of the Oxford African American Studies Center.

• Series Introduction: The Black Letters on the Sign ; Introduction ; I: The Scope of the Study ; 1. General Aim ; 2. The Methods of Inquiry ; 3. The Credibility of the Results ; II. The Problem ; 4. The Negro Problems of Philadelphia ; 5. Plan of Presentment ; III. The Negro in Philadelphia, 1638-1820 ; 6. General Survey ; 7. The Transplanting of the Negro, 1638-1760 ; 8. Emancipation, 1760-1780 ; 9. The Rise of the Freedmen, 1780-1820 ; IV. The Negro in Philadelphia, 1820-1896 ; 10. Fugitives and Foreigners, 1820-1840 ; 11. The Guild of the Caterers, 1840-1870 ; 12. The Influx of the Freedmen, 1870-1896 ; V. The Size, Age and Sex of the Negro Population ; 13. The City for a Century ; 14. The Seventh Ward, 1896 ; VI. Conjugal Condition ; 15. The Seventh Ward ; 16. The City ; VII. Sources of the Negro Population ; 17. The Seventh Ward ; 18. The City ; VIII. Education and Illiteracy ; 19. The History of Negro Education ; 20. The Present Condition ; IX. The Occupations of Negros ; 21. The Question of Earning a Living ; 22. Occupations in the Seventh Ward ; 23. Occupations in the City ; 24. History of the Occupations of Negroes ; X. The Health of Negros ; 25. The Interpretation of Statistics ; 26. The Statistics of the City ; XI. The Negro Family ; 27. The Size of the Family ; 28. Incomes ; 29. Property ; 30. Family Life ; XII. The Organized Life of Negros ; 31. History of the Negro Church in Philadelphia ; 32. The Function of the Negro Church ; 33. The Present Condition of the Churches ; 34. Secret and Beneficial Societies, and Co-operative Business ; 35. Institutions ; 36. The Experiment of Organization ; XIII. The Negro Criminal ; 37. History of Negro Crime in the City ; 38. Negro Crime Since the War ; 39. A Special Study in Crime ; 40. Some Cases of Crime ; XIV. Pauperism and Alcoholism ; 41. Pauperism ; 42. The Drink Habit ; 43. The Causes of Crime and Poverty ; XV. The Environment of the Negro ; 44. Houses and Rent ; 45. Sections and Wards ; 46. Social Classes and Amusements ; XVI. The Contact of the Races ; 47. Color Prejudice ; 48. Benevolence ; 49. The Intermarriage of the Races ; XVII. Negro Suffrage ; 50. The Significance of the Experiment ; 51. The History of Negro Suffrage in Pennsylvania ; 52. City Politics ; 53. Some Bad Results of Negro Suffrage ; 54. Some Good Results of Negro Suffrage ; 55. The Paradox of Reform ; XVIII. A Final Word ; 56. The Meaning of All This ; 57. The Duty of the Negroes ; 58. The Duty of the Whites ; Appendix A. Schedules used in the House-to-House Inquiry ; Appendix B. Legislation, etc., of Pennsylvania in Regard to the Negro ; Appendix C. Bibliography ; Index ; William Edward Burghardt Du Bois: A Chronology ; Selected Bibliography

"This set represents an invaluable assembly of the works of the pioneering African American scholar, activist, and creative genius....The introductions to the individual volumes are written by such distinguished scholars as to make those writings indispensable treasures in their own right. Recommended for all public libraries and essential for every academic institution."--Library Journal (starred review)"This set is a valuable contribution to African-American scholarship. It has the potential to introduce a new readership to the scope and breadth of a unique and seminal thinker. The works included can provide a more comprehensive understanding of the issues now facing contemporary Americans....[A] breathtaking collection."--School Library Journal"The general introduction and the introductions to each of Du Bois's works form a valuable opus in their own right, as they convey the author's political and social theories and indicate the richness and development of his ideas....The realities of slavery, racism, and segregation in the United States are always at the forefront, making these works (many of them out-of-print) continually pertinent and forceful reading....This set will be an essential additionto public and college libraries."--Reference and Research Book News"This set will be vital to all large university libraries with collections in African American history and American literature."--American Reference Books Annual"Examining Du Bois's oeuvre in its totality reveals an arc to his career, swinging from the formal scholarly writing of his early years to a trenchant and trademark blend of history, memoir, and polemic....Bringing together all of DuBois's work as a whole, observes [Lawrence D. Bobo of Stanford University's Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity], 'reveals the enormity of his intellect, and how it was ignored in his day."--The Chronicle ofPhilanthropy"W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) published 22 works during his long career, all of them contained within this impressive and painstaking collected set....the general introduction and the introductions to each of Du Bois's works form a valuable opus in their own right, as they convey the author's political and social theories and indicate the richness and development of his ideas. Du Bois's conception of race and color in America is a central theme throughout hisoeuvre, beginning with his seminal Souls of Black Folk of 1903. The realities of slavery, racism, and segregation in the United States are always at the forefront, making these works (many of themout-of-print) continually pertinent and forceful reading....This set will be an essential addition to public and college libraries."--Reference and Research Book News