Research Catalog

Forgotten legacy : William McKinley, George Henry White, and the struggle for Black equality

Title: Forgotten legacy : William McKinley, George Henry White, and the struggle for Black equality / Benjamin R. Justesen.
Author: Justesen, Benjamin R., 1949-
Publication: Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, [2020]

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Request for On-site Use Request Scan Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schomburg Center to submit a request in person.	Text	Use in library	Sc E 21-109	Schomburg Center - Research & Reference

Details

Description

xiii, 349 pages : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

"In "Forgotten Legacy," Benjamin Justesen reveals a previously unexamined facet of William McKinley's presidency: an ongoing, productive dedication to the advancement of African Americans, including their appointment to significant roles in the federal government and the general protection of their rights as United States citizens. During the first two years of his presidency, McKinley appointed more African Americans to office than all his predecessors combined. He also acted on many fronts to extend them protection from violence at the hands of lynch mobs and to continue their assimilation into American society. Indeed, Justesen's work suggests that we could consider McKinley the first "civil rights president" - especially when compared to his next five successors in the office. Nonetheless, historians have long minimized, trivialized, or overlooked McKinley's cooperative relationships with prominent African American leaders, including George Henry White, the only black congressman between 1897 and 1901. Justesen contends that this one-sided portrait of William McKinley is grievously incomplete, misleading, and often severely distorted. The child of abolitionist parents, McKinley was personally committed, both philosophically and politically, to fairness for America's black citizens. He was not as successful as he sought to be, especially after mid-term Congressional losses in 1898 and a rise in intransigence by southern congressmen. Justesen uses George White's parallel efforts in and outside of Congress as the primary lens to fashion a new chronicle of the McKinley administration's accomplishments. He focuses on McKinley's regular meetings with a small and mostly unheralded group of African American advisors - including White, his confidant Bishop Benjamin W. Arnett, and major appointees Judson W. Lyons and Henry P. Cheatham - and his continuing relationship with the new National Afro-American Council. The most visible facet of McKinley's efforts was his nomination of more than 80 black U.S. postmasters - nearly half of them proposed by George White - during his first two years in office. Historians have mostly overlooked those appointments as well as McKinley's selection of over a dozen black diplomats and consular officers during his term. Only months before his assassination, McKinley toured the South, visiting black colleges at every stop to praise black achievements and encourage a spirit of optimism among his audiences. Justesen uses a series of significant events of 1898 with critical racial overtones to illustrate the primary structure of McKinley's efforts: the lynching of a black U.S. postmaster in South Carolina, and the subsequent federal trial of his accused killers; the encouragement of black volunteers for the army in the war with Spain; the founding of the National Afro-American Council; the armed coup d'état against the municipal government in Wilmington, N.C., and the ensuing racial massacre; and the president's southern "Peace Tour," during which he committed the federal government to caring for Confederate graves. Although McKinley succumbed to political pressure and was less successful at promoting equality and civil rights that he hoped, Justesen shows that his efforts were far more significant and meaningful than previously understood"--

Alternative Title

William McKinley, George Henry White, and the struggle for black equality

Subjects

Genre/Form

History.

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

1897 -- 1. Washington Beginnings -- 2. Charting the Course -- 1898 -- 3. First Tests of Fire -- 4. Selecting Backups and Recruiting Volunteers -- 5. Political Storms Begin -- 6. Wilmington Falls and a New Council Rises -- 1899 -- 7. Entering a Critical Phase -- 8. Stops and Starts on the Road to Racial Peace -- 1900 -- 9. Preparing for the Fight of the Century -- 10. Taking the Battle to the Next Level -- 11. Eye of the Storm -- 12. Reelecting a President -- 1901 -- 13. Leaving the National Stage -- 14. A President for All the People -- 15. Two Cities, Two Presidencies -- 16. End of a Dream -- Epilogue: A Long Fall from Grace

Call Number

Sc E 21-109

ISBN

9780807173855
0807173851

LCCN

2020013978
40030319440

OCLC

1151472605

Author

Justesen, Benjamin R., 1949- author.

Title

Forgotten legacy : William McKinley, George Henry White, and the struggle for Black equality / Benjamin R. Justesen.

Publisher

Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, [2020]

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Creator/Contributor Characteristics

Gender group: Men

Nationality/regional group: Virginians

Occupational/field of activity group: Historians

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Chronological Term

1800-1901

Other Standard Identifier

40030319440

Research Call Number

Sc E 21-109

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