|
| For Labor, Race, and Liberty
ISBN: 9780299249137
Platform/Publisher: Project MUSE / University of Wisconsin Press
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Chapters; Download: Chapters
Subjects: African American politicians; African American politicians; African American presidential candidates;
Mouser (A Slaving Voyage to Africa and Jamaica) uncovers the little-known story of George Edwin Taylor, an African-American journalist who ran against Theodore Roosevelt in 1904, marking the first time an African-American appeared as a political party's presidential nominee. Raised in Arkansas, orphaned at seven, Taylor made his way to Wisconsin, where he was raised by foster parents. With few details about Taylor's personal life to go on, Mouser fills in the blanks by dryly exploring Wisconsin's labor and racial history. Though by no means immune to the era's racial prejudices, social mores were less rigid in the upper Midwest, allowing Taylor to carve out a career in the newspaper business, where he made a name for himself reporting on labor issues. He avoided subjects that most African-American journalists covered until he'd moved into politics, when he lobbied for enforcement of African-American civil rights. No one, least of all Taylor, thought that a civil rights-focused presidential campaign by a black man stood any chance of success. His Midwest populist gospel was soon eclipsed by the push for racial equality from Eastern, upper-class black leaders like W.E.B Du Bois. Though unfortunately dull, Mouser's research sheds much-deserved light on a trail-blazing figure deserving of more attention. (Jan. 21) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Bruce L. Mouser is professor emeritus of history at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. |
