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Black Texans
A History of African Americans in Texas, 1528–1995
by Alwyn Barr
Published by: University of Oklahoma Press
Imprint: University of Oklahoma Press
304 Pages | 6 x 9 | 16 b&w illus.
$24.95
African American have lived in Texas for more than four hundred years—longer than in any other region of the United States. Beginning with the arrival of the first African American in 1528, Alwyn Barr, in Black Texans, examines the African American experience in Texas during the periods of exploration and colonization, slavery, Reconstruction, the struggle to retain the freedoms gained, the twentieth-century urban experience, and the modern civil rights movement. Barr discusses each period of African-American history in terms of politics, violence, and legal status; labor and economic status; education; and social life.
Black Texans includes the history of the buffalo soldiers and the cowboys on Texas cattle drives, along with the achievements of notable African-American individuals in Texas history, from the Estevan the explorer through legislator Norris Wright Cuney and boxer Jack Johnson to state senator Barbara Jordan. Barr carries the story up to the present day in this second edition, which includes a new preface a new chapter on the years 1970-95, and a revised index.
Alwyn Barr is Professor of History at Texas Tech University and the author of Reconstruction to Reform: Texas Politic, 1876-1906 and Texas in Revolt: The Battle for San Antonio, 1835.
Forthcoming Events

Jane Little Botkin discusses her book, “The Girl Who Dared to Defy: Jane Street and the Rebel Maids of Denver”
Wednesday. May 18, 2022 | 12:00 pm
In-Person and Online Aurora History Museum 15051 East Alameda Parkway Aurora, CO 80012
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Book Signing with Connie Cronley at Best of Books
Saturday. May 21, 2022 | 2:00 pm
Best of Books 1313 East Danforth Rd. Kickingbird Square Edmond, OK 73034
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Jill Hunting in Conversation with Mike Everhart at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History
Thursday. June 16, 2022 | 6:00 pm
Sternberg Museum of Natural History 3000 Sternberg Dr. Hays, KS 67601
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Meet Jill Hunting at Flint Hills Books
Saturday. June 18, 2022 | 1:30 pm
Flint Hills Books 130 W. Main Council Grove, Kansas 66846
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Author Talk with Jill Hunting at Full Circle Books
Tuesday. June 21, 2022 | 6:00 pm
Full Circle Books 50 Penn Place 1900 NW Expressway, Oklahoma City, OK 73118
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