Unlike the Buffalo Soldiers or the Tuskegee Airmen, whose stories have received considerable scholarly attention and exposure in the popular media, the men of Mont ford Point remain virtually unknown. I personally have spoken with young black Marines on the grounds of the original Camp Mont ford Point who knew nothing of its history. Conversations with numerous white career veterans of the Corps revealed that they were equally unaware of the historical significance of Mont ford Point and the men who trained there. This work is intended primarily to acquaint the public with the experience of a remarkable group of men, to give those men the opportunity to present their experiences and accomplishments to the public in their own words. The words in this volume are powerful words, spoken by men who have endured much. They are words spoken with flashes of anger and humor, sometimes with sorrow, sometimes with great wisdom, always with a pride fostered by incredible accomplishment in the face of adversity. They are words to be heard, words to be pondered, words that hold deep meaning and significance for American society in the twenty-first century.

The Marines of Montford Point: America's First Black Marines [Standard Large Print 16 Pt Edition]

History

McLaurin, Melton A.

Military

ReadHowYouWant

In 1850, fourteen-year-old Celia became the property of Robert Newsom, a prosperous and respected Missouri farmer. For the next five years, she was cruelly and repeatedly molested by her abusive master--and bore him two children in the process. But in 1855, driven to the limits of her endurance, Celia fought back. And at the tender age of eighteen, the desperate and frightened young black woman found herself on trial for Newsom's murder--the defendant in a landmark courtroom battle that threatened to undermine the very foundations of the South's most cherished institution. Based on court records, correspondences and newspaper accounts past and present, Celia, A Slave is a powerful masterwork of passion and scholarship--a stunning literary achievement that brilliantly illuminates one of the most extraordinary events in the long, dark history of slavery in America.

Celia, A Slave

Americas

William Morrow Paperbacks

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

The Wayward Girls of Samarcand is the true story of the sensational 1931 Arson Trial in North Carolina. Sixteen poor white teenage girls faced the death penalty for burning down two dormitories at the State Reform School for Girls. Crusading journalist, socialite, and attorney Nell Battle Lewis defended her clients by exposing sadistic treatment, deplorable conditions, and forced sterilization presided over by Samarcand superintendent Agnes B. MacNaughton. In this her first and last trial, Lewis saved the defendants from the electric chair.

The Wayward Girls of Samarcand

RUSSELL, ANNE

Historical

Bradley Creek Press

With an executive order from President Franklin Roosevelt in 1941, the United States Marine Corps--the last all-white branch of the U.S. military--was forced to begin recruiting and enlisting African Americans. The first black recruits received basic training at the segregated Camp Montford Point, adjacent to Camp Lejeune, near Jacksonville, North Carolina. Between 1942 and 1949 (when the base was closed as a result of President Truman's 1948 order fully desegregating all military forces) more than 20,000 men trained at Montford Point, most of them going on to serve in the Pacific Theatre in World War II as members of support units. This book, in conjunction with the documentary film of the same name, tells the story of these Marines for the first time. Drawing from interviews with 60 veterans, The Marines of Montford Point relates the experiences of these pioneers in their own words. From their stories, we learn about their reasons for enlisting; their arrival at Montford Point and the training they received there; their lives in a segregated military and in the Jim Crow South; their experiences of combat and service in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam; and their legacy. The Marines speak with flashes of anger and humor, sometimes with sorrow, sometimes with great wisdom, and always with a pride fostered by incredible accomplishment in the face of adversity. This book serves to recognize and to honor the men who desegregated the Marine Corps and loyally served their country in three major wars.

The Marines of Montford Point: America's First Black Marines

University of North Carolina Press

The University of North Carolina Press

Illuminating the moral dilemmas that lie at the heart of a slaveholding society, this book tells the story of a young slave who was sexually exploited by her master and ultimately executed for his murder. Celia was only fourteen years old when she was acquired by John Newsom, an aging widower and one of the most prosperous and respected citizens of Callaway County, Missouri. The pattern of sexual abuse that would mark their entire relationship began almost immediately. After purchasing Celia in a neighboring county, Newsom raped her on the journey back to his farm. He then established her in a small cabin near his house and visited her regularly (most likely with the knowledge of the son and two daughters who lived with him). Over the next five years, Celia bore Newsom two children; meanwhile, she became involved with a slave named George and resolved at his insistence to end the relationship with her master. When Newsom refused, Celia one night struck him fatally with a club and disposed of his body in her fireplace. Her act quickly discovered, Celia was brought to trial. She received a surprisingly vigorous defense from her court-appointed attorneys, who built their case on a state law allowing women the use of deadly force to defend their honor. Nevertheless, the court upheld the tenets of a white social order that wielded almost total control over the lives of slaves. Celia was found guilty and hanged. Melton A. McLaurin uses Celia's story to reveal the tensions that strained the fabric of antebellum southern society. Celia's case demonstrates how one master's abuse of power over a single slave forced whites to make moral decisions about the nature of slavery. McLaurin focuses sharply on the role of gender, exploring the degree to which female slaves were sexually exploited, the conditions that often prevented white women from stopping such abuse, and the inability of male slaves to defend slave women. Setting the case in the context of the 1850s slavery debates, he also probes the manner in which the legal system was used to justify slavery. By granting slaves certain statutory rights (which were usually rendered meaningless by the customary prerogatives of masters), southerners could argue that they observed moral restraint in the operations of their peculiar institution. An important addition to our understanding of the pre-Civil War era, Celia, A Slave is also an intensely compelling narrative of one woman pushed beyond the limits of her endurance by a system that denied her humanity at the most basic level.

Celia, a Slave (Gender and Slavery)

University of Georgia Press

In Separate Pasts Melton A. McLaurin honestly and plainly recalls his boyhood during the 1950s, an era when segregation existed unchallenged in the rural South. In his small hometown of Wade, North Carolina, whites and blacks lived and worked within each other's shadows, yet were separated by the history they shared. Separate Pasts is the moving story of the bonds McLaurin formed with friends of both races―a testament to the power of human relationships to overcome even the most ingrained systems of oppression. A new afterword provides historical context for the development of segregation in North Carolina. In his poignant portrayal of contemporary Wade, McLaurin shows that, despite integration and the election of a black mayor, the legacy of racism remains.

Separate Pasts: Growing Up White in the Segregated South (Brown Thrasher Books)

Originally published in 1991, Celia, a Slave illuminates the moral dilemmas that lie at the heart of a slaveholding society by telling the story of a young slave who was sexually exploited by her enslaver and ultimately executed for his murder. Melton A. McLaurin uses Celia's story to reveal the tensions that strained the fabric of antebellum southern society by focusing on the role of gender and the manner in which the legal system was used to justify slavery. An important addition to our understanding of the pre-Civil War era, Celia, a Slave is also an intensely compelling narrative of one woman pushed beyond the limits of her endurance by a system that denied her humanity at the most basic level.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by McLaurin, Melton A.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by McLaurin, Melton A.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by McLaurin, Melton A.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Marines of Montford Point: America's First Black Marines [Standard Large Print 16 Pt Edition]

Celia, A Slave

Celia, A Slave

The Wayward Girls of Samarcand

The Marines of Montford Point: America's First Black Marines

The Marines of Montford Point: America's First Black Marines

Celia, a Slave (Gender and Slavery)

Separate Pasts: Growing Up White in the Segregated South (Brown Thrasher Books)

Celia, a Slave (Gender and Slavery)

The Marines of Montford Point: America's First Black Marines