A Free Man of Color and His Hotel: Race, Reconstruction, and the Role of the Federal Government - Couverture rigide

Gelderman, Carol

 
9781597978330: A Free Man of Color and His Hotel: Race, Reconstruction, and the Role of the Federal Government
Couverture rigide
ISBN 10 : 1597978337 ISBN 13 : 9781597978330
Editeur : Potomac Books Inc, 2012

Synopsis

A Free Man of Color and His Hotel weaves the story of a uniquely successful black businessman into the burgeoning post-Civil War political struggle that pitted the federal government against the states' desire to remain autonomous. Born in Washington, D.C., James Wormley worked as a hacker in his father's livery stable there and as a steward on Mississippi River steamboats before establishing his own catering and boardinghouse businesses. During a period of limited opportunity for African Americans, he built and operated D.C.'s luxurious Wormley Hotel at a time when most financial and governmental business was conducted in hotels. Not only did a number of notable diplomats and politicians live at the hotel, but because of its location in the city's commercial and political center, Wormley also hosted Washington's movers and shakers. Wormley's rise, however, occurred as three landmark decisions by the Supreme Court effectively dismantled Reconstruction and led to the Plessy v. Ferguson decision that legalized segregation. This cautionary tale illustrates how key Supreme Court decisions hindered other African Americans' potential successes after Reconstruction. By examining the issue of states' rights in terms of one man's against-the-odds success, Carol Gelderman shows how these same issues are still relevant in a postsegregation United States.

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À propos de l?auteur

Carol Gelderman received her PhD from Northwestern University and is currently Distinguished Professor of English Emerita at the University of New Orleans. Gelderman is the author of nine books, including Henry Ford: The Wayward Capitalist (1981), Mary McCarthy: A Life (1988), and Louis Auchincloss: A Writer's Life (2007). She also has a strong interest in politics and government, as reflected in her book All the Presidents' Words: The Bully Pulpit and the Creation of the Virtual Presidency(1997). She lives in New Orleans.

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Éditeur
Potomac Books Inc
Date d'édition
2012
Langue
anglais
ISBN 10 
1597978337
ISBN 13 
9781597978330
Reliure
Relié
Nombre de pages
184
Coordonnées du fabricant
non disponible
Personne responsable
non disponible