African-American Books

The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man

James Weldon Johnson

The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912/1927) by James Weldon Johnson is the fictional account of a young biracial man, referred to only as the "Ex-Colored Man," living in post-Reconstruction era..

The Book of American Negro Poetry

James Weldon Johnson

The Book of American Negro Poetry is a collection of poems by James Weldon Johnson on African-American studies. Preface of the book by author follows:A people may become great through many means,..

The Colored Cadet at West Point

Henry Flipper

Flipper's record of accomplishment was significant for any individual in any time, and for a nineteenth-century black American it was phenomenal. As historian Quintard Taylor points out, in his post-A..

The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar

Paul Laurence Dunbar

The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar by Paul Laurence Dunbar. African-american poet, novelist, and playwright of the late 19th and early 20th centuries (1872-1906). Introductory note by the auth..

The Conjure Woman

Charles W. Chesnutt

The Conjure Woman is a collection of short stories by African-American fiction writer, essayist, and activist Charles W. Chesnutt. First published in 1899, The Conjure Woman was Chesnutt's first great..

The Emperor Jones

Eugene O'Neill

The Emperor Jones is a 1920 play by American dramatist Eugene O'Neill that tells the tale of Brutus Jones, a resourceful, self-assured African American and a former Pullman porter, who kills another b..

The Future of the American Negro

Booker T. Washington

The Future of the American Negro, a book written in 1899 by American educator Booker T. Washington, set forth his ideas regarding the history of enslaved and freed African-American people and their ne..

Hagar's Daughter

Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins

Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins (1859 – August 13, 1930) was a prominent African-American novelist, journalist, playwright, historian, and editor. She is considered a pioneer in her use of the romantic nove..