BiblioVault - Books about Richardson, Joe M.

African Americans in the Reconstruction of Florida, 1865-1877

Joe M. Richardson

University of Alabama Press, 2008

Exploration of African American contributions to the state of Florida during the era of Reconstruction

Despite their shortcomings, “radical” politicians, including African Americans, made worthy contributions to the state of Florida during the era of Reconstruction. Joe Richardson disputes many of the misconceptions about the state’s debt and corruption by exploring how some African American politicians were quite capable and learned their duties quickly. Even more remarkable was the rapidity with which the unlettered ex-slaves absorbed education and adjusted to their status as free men. African Americans in the Reconstruction of Florida delves into the problems encountered by the freed men and traces their successes and failures during the first decade after emancipation.

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Christian Reconstruction

The American Missionary Association and Southern Blacks, 1861-1890

Joe M. Richardson

University of Alabama Press, 2008

"Joe Richardson's Christian Reconstruction is a solid addition to historical scholarship on the work of Yankee missionaries among the freedmen during the Civil War and Reconstruction. . . . Without question, this is the most comprehensive history of the American Missionary Association (AMA), and no one has uncovered as much detailed information on any other Northern aid society. Rich in detail and strongly recommended, the book argues that the AMA struggled to prepare the liberated slaves for civil and political equality by freeing them of the shackles of ignorance, superstition and sin.This book ought to be read by all those interested in Northern educational and social reformers in the Reconstruction South."
--The Journal of American History

"In an extraordinarily balanced study Richardson has synthesized a wealth of sources and research to produce a thoroughly convincing interpretation of the AMA and southern blacks. Besides exploring relations between the two, his main objective has been to assess the AMA's effectiveness in bringing blacks into the American mainstream. Because of his successful labors, we now have a much-needed comprehensive study of that most influential missionary organization. Whether addressing conflicts between the AMA and the US military over the treatment of contrabands, charges of racism among black and white missionaries, or the quality of association colleges, Richardson does not allow his obvious admiration for the AMA to interfere. . . . With bold logic and considerable subtlety Richardson has made an impressive contribution.
--The Journal of Southern History

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Education for Liberation

The American Missionary Association and African Americans, 1890 to the Civil Rights Movement

Joe M. Richardson

University of Alabama Press, 2009

Education for Liberation completes the study Dr. Richardson published in 1986 as Christian Reconstruction: The American Missionary Association and Southern Blacks, 1861-1890 by continuing the account of the American Missionary Association (AMA) from the end of Reconstruction to the post-World War II era.

Even after the optimism of Reconstruction was shattered by violence, fraud, and intimidation and the white South relegated African Americans to segregated and disfranchised second-class citizenship, the AMA never abandoned its claim that blacks were equal in God’s sight, that any “backwardness” was the result of circumstance rather than inherent inferiority, and that blacks could and should become equal citizens with other Americans. The organization went farther in recognition of black ability, humanity, and aspirations than much of 19th and 20th century white America by publicly and consistently opposing lynching, segregation, disfranchisement, and discrimination.

The AMA regarded education as the means to full citizenship for African Americans and supported scores of elementary and secondary schools and several colleges at a time when private schooling offered almost the only chance for black youth to advance beyond the elementary grades. Such AMA schools, with their interracial faculties and advocacy for basic civil rights for black citizens, were a constant challenge to southern racial norms, and trained thousands of leaders in all areas of black life.

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A History of Fisk University, 1865-1946

Joe M. Richardson

University of Alabama Press, 1980

The evolution, impact, and significance of Fisk University from 1865 to 1946

Fisk University has been a leading black educational institution for more than a century. In this volume, the author attempts to trace its evolution and development from 1866 when it was little more than a primary school to the 1930s and 1940s when it became a center of culture and scholarship; from 1871 when it was necessary to send out Fisk Jubilee Singers to earn operating expenses to the 1940s then it a several million dollar endowment; and from 1866 when black children eagerly sought any education whites gave them to 1925 when students joined alumni to oust a white president they considers dictatorial.

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Talladega College

The First Century

Maxine D. Jones

University of Alabama Press, 1990

An early history of Talladega College

In 1954 when the U.S. Supreme Court declared separate education inherently unequal, Talladega College was a notable black liberal arts school thriving in rural east Alabama. This is a study of that college, its growth, development, and significance, from its inception by freed slaves in the 1860s through the student protest movement more than a century later. Initially Talladega offered primary, secondary, nursing, and theological as well as college-level work. Under strong leadership of visionaries such as James T. Cater, the school’s first black dean, Talladega became a first-rate liberal arts institution. During its first decades the school struggled against poverty, white hostility, Ku Klux Klan threats, and internal dissension to produce a number of teachers and ministers for Alabama schools and churches.

This book examines such college issues as finance, enrollment, students, educational policy, and the often stormy relationship with black and white neighbors. It provides a sense of both the obstacles to and the positive consequences of building and nurturing a black college.

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