| 
|
Out
of the Shadows
A Biographical History of African American Athletes
Edited by David K. Wiggins
Sport and race in American culture
“Edited by the U.S.’s foremost historian of African
American athletes. . . the 19 contributors are as varied as
the athletes. Some are members of the ‘sports-historical
establishment,’ others are at the start of their careers,
and one, Gerald Early, is a distinguished literary scholar.
Wiggins chose them well. They meet his high standards. . .
. Essential.”
—Allen Guttmann, Choice Magazine
“This book examines 100 years of race relations, using
20 athletes as a lens on American society. Some names are
familiar—Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson—but others
are mostly unknown today—Jimmy Winkfield, Ora Washington.
Each entry contains information about the athlete’s
career and post-career life, as well as an analysis of the
role race played in the individual’s success. . . .
Should find a place in larger libraries.”
—School Library Journal
“Wiggins has done a splendid job of rounding up first-rate
historians. . . . As probably the foremost authority on African
American sports, Wiggins has provided the connective tendons
to hold the body of essays together.
. . . Job well done.”
—Randy Roberts, author of Papa Jack: Jack Johnson
and the Era of White Hopes
“Highly recommended. . . . The diversity in terms of
time periods and personalities should help attract a broad
readership. . . . Strongly grounded in research, with a mixture
of historical facts and scholarly analysis. . . . It will
be well received.”
—Charles K. Ross, author of Outside the Line
and editor of Race and Sport
The original essays in this comprehensive collection examine
the lives and sports of famous and not-so-famous African American
male and female athletes from the nineteenth century to today.
Here are twenty insightful biographies that furnish perspectives
on the changing status of these athletes and how these changes
mirrored the transformation of sports, American society, and
civil rights legislation.
Some of the athletes discussed include Marshall Taylor (bicycling),
William Henry Lewis (football), Jack Johnson, Satchel Paige,
Jesse Owens, Joe Lewis, Alice Coachman (track and field),
Althea Gibson (tennis), Wilma Rudolph, Bill Russell, Jim Brown,
Arthur Ashe, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Venus and Serena
Williams.
David K. Wiggins, a leading authority on
African American sports, is a professor and director of the
School of Recreation, Health, and Tourism at George Mason
University. He is the editor of a number of books in the field,
including The Unlevel Playing Field and Sport
and the Color Line, both edited with Patrick Miller,
and is the author of Glory Bound: Black Athletes in a
White World.
Original
cloth edition.
February
6 x 9, 472 pages, 19 photographs, index
$24.95
(s) paper
ISBN 978-1-55728-876-9 | 1-55728-876-3
$34.95 (s) cloth
1-55728-826-7 (978-1-55728-826-4)
|
