| Sketches
of the Higher Classes of Colored Society in Philadelphia, first
published in 1841, was written by Joseph Willson, a southern black
man who had moved to Philadelphia. He wrote this book to convince
whites that the African American community in his adopted city did
indeed have a class structure, and he offers advice to his black readers
about how they should use their privileged status. The significance
of Willson's account lies in its sophisticated analysis of the issues
of class and race in Philadelphia. It is all the more important in
that it predates W. E. B. Du Bois's The Philadelphia Negro by more than half a century.
Julie Winch has written a substantial introduction and prepared
extensive annotation. She identifies the people Willson wrote about
and gives readers a sense of Philadelphia's multifaceted and richly
textured African American community. The Elite of Our People will interest urban, antebellum, and African American historians,
as well as individuals with a general interest in African American
history.
This volume has withstood the test of time. It remains readable.
Joseph Willson was well read, articulate, and had a keen eye for
detail. His message is as timely today as it was in 1841. The people
he wrote about were remarkable individuals whose lives were as complex
as his own. |
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| Julie
Winch is Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts
in Boston. Her previous books are Philadelphia's Black Elite: Activism,
Accommodation, and the Struggle for Autonomy, 1787-1848 (Temple,
1988) and Cyprian Clamorgan's "The Colored Aristocracy of St. Louis" (edited, with an introduction) (Missouri, 1999). |
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