Bridges of Memory: Chicago's First Wave of Black Migration

I have read both of Timuel Black's books and recommend both highly. Black is the right person for this job, having a nearly perfect memory for a past that includes important work as an activist, educator and scholar. He knows what his subjects are getting at and knows how to tweek the most out of them. Timuel Black's memories intertwine with the memories of his subjects and create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. It is truly living history This is a book that everyone should read but can particularly important to young people, black and white, who don't quite understand that they are standing on the shoulders of giants.

I loved Bridges of Memory Volume 1... and this book doesn't dissapoint either. I love his interviewing style and the variety of people he has choosen to interview about their personal Chicago experiences. This is a well written book and I am looking forward to reading the next volume when it is released.

What a gift this collection is! In 1988, Timuel Black began to record and preserve the recollections of people who had lived in Chicago a long time, particularly the first generation of the Great Migration. When he wrote the introduction to this book, he had recorded over 125 conversations and still had "many , many more people with whom I would like to speak." Thirty-six of those conversations are presented here, with two more volumes planned to follow. The interviews are conducted using the "participant observer" technique, and since Dr. Black - a long time resident himself - is an "insider" these interviews are essentially honest, intimate conversations among old friends, many of whom have now passed. As Dr. Black makes clear, this book is not intended to be a history of Black Chicago and its institutions, but rather a collection of oral memories from people who participated in shaping those institutions. But his field work provides invaluable data for future researchers attempting to compile that history. If this book contained nothing more than the biographical information about each of the 40 participants (some are joint interviews), it would make fascinating reading. But the interviews bring each vividly to life. We meet people from all walks, including civil servants, educators, politicians, jazz musicians, railroad workers, business people, even two generations of South Side Chicago represented by mother and daughter Mildred Bowden and Hermene Hartman. Some, like George Johnson, tell a story of "from rags to riches." Others fall into a category of "just keep on keepin' on." But all are riveting. I look forward to the next two volumes!

Here's my bias. I like history. I like to hear people talk about their lives. I like intelligent, articulate, effective language. And I loved this book. The people interviewed are fascinating, and Timuel Black helps them tell their stories in an unpretentious but by no means diffident way. I learned a great deal and enjoyed myself for many evenings.

I'm a student teacher in history and this great volume will help educate and inspire my students. Personal accounts are always more interesting than a historian's view after the fact.