In the South after the Civil War, the reassertion of white supremacy tended to pit white against black. In the West, by contrast, a radically different drama em

Every American city had a small, self-aware, and active black elite, who felt it was their duty to set the standard for the less fortunate members of their race

Every American city had a small, self-aware, and active black elite, who felt it was their duty to set the standard for the less fortunate members of their race

A “brilliant” (The Washington Post), “clear-eyed and incisive” (The New Republic) analysis of how the wealthiest group in American society is making lif

In 1858, Cyprian Clamorgan wrote a brief but immensely readable book entitled The Colored Aristocracy of St. Louis. The grandson of a white voyageur and a mulat