I always get a lift in spirits when February comes around because it’s Black History Month. I enjoy the special programming and the unabashed celebration of the history of African people in the Americas.

Dr. Carter G. Woodson was the honored ancestor who. launched Negro History Week in 1926. Woodson chose the second week of February because it falls between the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. This observance evolved into Black History Month in 1976. Known for writing the contributions of black Americans into the national spotlight, Woodson received a Ph.D at Harvard University;  founded the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History in 1915;  founded the Journal of Negro History in 1916 and is the author of the book, “The Miseducation of the Negro“, published in 1933.

Read, re-read or introduce a friend to my three historical novels:

 

ANGELS MAKE THEIR HOPE HERE imagines a community that many, even today, would think improbable if not impossible. Dossie is rescued from slavery by Duncan Smoot, a conductor on the Underground Railroad, who gives her refuge in just such an improbable, but possible place, the town of Russell’s Knob, New Jersey.

” . . . the novel swiftly goes from idyllic to horrific but told throughout in language that gives us the verbal music of the period and the soulful reality of this little community of outliers. “Angels Make Their Hope Here” – this tribute to old Jersey is well worth your time.”

            Alan Cheuse, NPR – listen to the full review http://n.pr/UogWl0 

                                             ALL THINGS CONSIDERED on NPR

STAND THE STORM is set in Civil War era Washington  D.C. and it illumines the lives of a self-emancipated tailor, his indomitable mother, his wife and children.

“An evocative,historically rich book that brings the turbulent Civil war period alive”

             TIME Magazine

 

RIVER, CROSS MY HEART is the story of a young girl’s life in the African American community of Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown neighborhood in the early 20th century.

“A genuine masterpiece . .  Full of grace and beauty and profound insights . . .”

            Michael Sheldon, Baltimore Sun