This groundbreaking collection, which is slated to be published in conjunction with the fall 2005 Slavery and the Making of New York
exhibition at the New-York Historical Society, chronicles and analyzes New York City's African-American presence, both slave and free, from the 17th-century to the end of the 19th century. The 1991 discovery of the city's extensive African burial ground highlighted slavery's centrality to New York history, a fact editors Berlin (Many Thousands Gone
) and Harris (In the Shadow of Slavery
) further delineate (e.g., slaves made up over a quarter of the labor force). The 11 essays—from scholars Christopher Moore, Jill Lepore, Graham Hodges, Patrick Rael, Shane White, Carla L. Peterson, Craig Steven Wilder, Manisha Sinha, David Quigley, Iver Bernstein and Marcy S. Sacks—explore the social, cultural and political impact of the black community on the early development and growth of New York City. Though academic thoroughness and occasional repetition and contradiction may slightly cloud the collection, the work is accessible to the lay reader. Pertinent illustrations and over 30 sidebars throughout the text offer enriching sketches of many of the people, places and events that figure in the essays. (Nov.)
