Educator, orator, and activist J. McHenry Jones (1859-1909) grew up in eastern Ohio. A descendant of African American tradespeople and farmers, Jones chose a career in education. He became the principal of the Lincoln School in Wheeling, West Virginia, and then later spurred more than a decade of growth at the West Virginia Colored Institute (now West Virginia State University) as the Institute's president. Overshadowed by a modern fascination with Booker T. Washington, Jones not only remained independent from the Washington machine but also carved out niches in state and national Republican party politics, African American societies like the Grand Order of the Odd Fellows, and interracial religious organizations like the Epworth League. Although the multi-talented Jones reportedly authored a handful of novels, critics have located only his 1896 Hearts of Gold, a rich story of Black life at the turn into the twentieth century. John Ernest is the Eberly Family Distinguished Professor of American Literature at West Virginia University. Eric Gardner is Chair, Braun Fellow, and Professor of English at Saginaw Valley State University.
"...the first of a projected series of out-of-print West Virginia
literary works by African American writers. An extensive
introduction and six appendices provide fascinating context for a
love story set among convict coal miners in West Virginia."
Appalachian Heritage"...[a] groundbreaking novel."
Phyllis Wilson Moore, Journal of Appalachian Studies"[This] series
will expand the scholarly discussion about the ways in which such
texts help us to rethink the field and insure that the books will
be taught in the classroom and thereby be sustained for the next
generation. . . .Professors Ernest and Moody have the expertise to
insure the highest quality for these aspects of publication."
Sharon Harris, Director, Humanities Institute and Professor of
English, University of Connecticut"As the editor of African
American Review, Joycelyn K. Moody has had her finger on the pulse
of new scholarship.....[while] John Ernest [is] a scholarly editor
whose work is careful, insightful, and accessible...."
Frances Smith Foster, Charles Howard Candler Professor of English
and Women's Studies, Emory University"This [series] recognizes the
enhanced role of the archive in literary research--research
libraries and historical societies that have preserved the letters
and papers of non-canonical writers. Such authors, whose work has
been neglected are now being presented in the scholarship of
literary critics as they expand the definition of the canon and
revise its interpretation. . . ."
Caroline F. Sloat, Director of Book Publication, American
Antiquarian Society"[Regenerations: African American Literature and
Culture] has the potential to be a vital, exciting series that will
make available neglected texts that can help us to rethink African
American literary and cultural traditions."
Robert S. Levine, Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, University of
Maryland
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