Orem Library

"The landmark comic satire that asks, "What would happen if all black people in America turned white?" It's New Year's Day 1933 in New York City, and Max Disher, a young black man, has just found out that a certain Dr. Junius Crookman has discovered a mysterious process that allows people to bleach their skin white--a new way to "solve the American race problem." Max leaps at the opportunity, and after a brief stay at the Crookman Sanitarium, he becomes...

The Story of an African Farm (1883) is a novel by South African political activist and writer Olive Schreiner. Her first published novel, The Story of an African Farm was a bestseller upon its release despite being criticized for its portrayal of controversial social, religious, and political themes. Part Bildungsroman, part philosophical fiction, the novel is recognized as a groundbreaking work for its exploration of feminism, atheism, and the influence...

A compilation of insightful essays and speeches by the renowned abolitionist and orator, Frederick Douglass. This collection brings together some of his most powerful and eloquent writings on the issues of slavery, freedom, and racial justice, showcasing his intellectual brilliance and tireless advocacy for the rights of African Americans. Through his incisive analysis and powerful rhetoric, Douglass challenges the prevailing views of his time and...

During the 1890s, Ida Wells-Barnett began documenting lynching in the United States. Her findings, which were based on frequent claims that lynchings were reserved for black criminals only, were published in articles and through her pamphlet called Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in all its Phases. Wells exposed lynching as a barbaric practice of whites in the South used to intimidate and oppress African Americans who created economic and political competition-and...

Booker T. Washington, the most recognized national leader, orator and educator, emerged from slavery in the deep south, to work for the betterment of African Americans in the post Reconstruction period.

"[Sh]ould take a prominent place on the shelf of literature about the man who changed 20th century America." Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

In this new biography, distinguished historian Paul Harvey examines Martin Luther King's life through his complex, emerging religious lives. Harvey introduces many readers, perhaps for the first or only time, to the King of diverse religious and intellectual influences, of an increasingly radical cast

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Madam C. J. Walker is reputed to be America's first self-made woman millionaire. Born to former slaves in the Louisiana Delta in the aftermath of the Civil War, married at fourteen, and widowed at twenty, Walker spent the first decades of her life as a laundress. By the time of her death in 1919, however, Walker had refashioned herself into one of the most famous African American figures in the nation: the owner and president of a hair-care empire...

Before slavery was abolished in the United States, more than 100,000 slaves escaped to freedom with help from the Underground Railroad. A secret network of safe houses, the Underground Railroad is an important part of American history. Underground Railroad workers such as Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass devoted their energy and even risked their own safety to help enslaved blacks escape to freedom. Additional features to aid comprehension include...