DRAKE (J.F.) &
HARDY (J. Garrick).
A Panorama of Progress of the Negro in Alabama.
THE ONLY PUBLISHED EDITION
The brainchild of J. Gerrick Hardy and the fourth president of Alabama A&M Joseph Fanning Drake, this publication highlights the positive - and often overlooked - contributions made by African Americans to the South and to the nation.
Published five years before the Civil Rights Act, Hardy notes in the introduction that African Americans “the minority race” have been “exploited for the economic security” of the majority. He believes this system was further entrenched by effective parallel presses between the two communities. He adds: “[o]nly murders, thefts and rapes by Negroes make the front page of certain of our papers” and believes one way to combat this is through better communication and better publicity.
As such, Hardy has compiled a list of over 200 successful Alabamans whose achievements are worthy of recognition. The list includes literary figures such as Ralph Emerson, sports titans like Hank Aaron, and religious leaders including Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ralph David Abernathy. While the entries are short and seem somewhat hastily written, the positive thrust stands in stark contrast to the fear mongering picture that was being painted by the media and the government in the segregated South at the time.
An expanded edition is alluded to but was never published.
Very rare: not on OCLC.
