Illinois State Historical Society Superior Achievement Award, 2013 As the first African American elected to the Illinois General Assembly, John W. E. Thomas was

How is the state produced? In what ways did enslaved African Americans shape modern governing practices? Ryan A. Quintana provocatively answers these questions

This is a full-length political biography of John W. E. Thomas (1847-1899), the first African American to serve in the Illinois General Assembly and the leading

Press kit includes: 12 black and white still photographs (with captions).

In Black Chicago’s First Century, Christopher Robert Reed provides the first comprehensive study of an African American population in a nineteenth-century nor