This amazing work, published in association with the Library of Congress and using primary sources from its rich archives, documents in great detail the “Jim Crow” years of the African- American experience in the United States. This book takes the approach of looking at Jim Crow’s segregationist policies and impact first in the South, then in the North, and finally provides an overall national picture of its devastation.

Although many history books can be impersonal, providing an overview of general groups, this book uses quotes from people who experienced the impact of Jim Crow first-hand. The preface, for example, begins: “At fifteen, I was fully conscious of the racial difference, and while I was sullen and resentful in my soul, I was beaten and knew it.” (Albon Holsey).

Author Osborne does a skilful job of always bringing the larger issues back to the individuals who had to endure them. The song and dance that gave Jim Crow its persona and name came from the performance routine of a white actor, Thomas “Daddy” Rice who performed pretending to be a black man sometime around 1828. A photo of the sheet music — the primary source —shows the stereotypical intention. Surprisingly, the term “Jim Crow” came to be used in general to refer to black people by 1838 and, by the 1890s, “it described the race-based way of life developing in the South. Jim Crow came to mean ‘second-class citizen.’”

This important book bears testimony to a shameful epoch in United States history, examining closely the specter that hovers over race relations in this country to the present day. Only by reading, looking, examining closely, and listening to the never-dead voices of its victims —carefully preserved in the Library of Congress and presented in distinguished books such as this one — can we ever hope to see a day when Jim Crow finally packs his bags and leaves us forever. This book should be in every library. It is not only a history book for young people. It is a history book for every citizen and student of United States history during this time period. 128 pages  Ages  10 and up

Recommended by Shari Shaw, M.L.I.S., Librarian, Michigan, USA