In this outstanding cultural biography, the author of the New York Times bestseller A Slave in the White House chronicles a critical yet overlooked chapter in American history: the inspiring rise and calculated fall of the black elite, from Emancipation through Reconstruction to the Jim Crow Era—embodied in the experiences of an influential figure of the time, academic, entrepreneur, and political activist and black history pioneer Daniel Murray.
In the wake of the Civil War, Daniel Murray, born free and educated in Baltimore, was in the vanguard of Washington, D.C.’s black upper class. Appointed Assistant Librarian at the Library of Congress—at a time when government appointments were the most prestigious positions available for blacks—Murray became wealthy through his business as a construction contractor and married a college-educated socialite. The Murrays’ social circles included some of the first African-American U.S. Senators and Congressmen, and their children went to the best colleges—Harvard and Cornell.
Though Murray and other black elite of his time were primed to assimilate into the cultural fabric as Americans first and people of color second, their prospects were crushed by Jim Crow segregation and the capitulation to white supremacist groups by the government, which turned a blind eye to their unlawful—often murderous—acts. Elizabeth Dowling Taylor traces the rise, fall, and disillusionment of upper-class African Americans, revealing that they were a representation not of hypothetical achievement but what could be realized by African Americans through education and equal opportunities.
As she makes clear, these well-educated and wealthy elite were living proof that African Americans did not lack ability to fully participate in the social contract as white supremacists claimed, making their subsequent fall when Reconstruction was prematurely abandoned all the more tragic. Illuminating and powerful, her magnificent work brings to life a dark chapter of American history that too many Americans have yet to recognize.
This cultural biography tells the enthralling story of the high-achieving black elites who thrived in the nation’s capital during Reconstruction. Daniel Murray (1851–1925), an assistant librarian at the Library of Congress, was a prominent member of this glorious class.
Murray's life was reflective of other African Americans who were accomplished and prosperous during the Reconstruction period. This social circle included educators, ministers, lawyers, doctors, entrepreneurs, US senators and representatives, and other government officials. Among the luminaries were Francis and Archibald Grimké, Blanche Bruce, Pinckney Pinchback, Robert and Mary Church Terrell, Booker T. Washington, and W. E. B. Du Bois. The elite were primed to assimilate into the cultural fabric as Americans first and people of color second. Education was a pearl of great pride, and they sent their children to the best schools—Phillips Academy, Cornell, and Harvard. They belonged to exclusive clubs, cultivated genteel manners, owned opulent homes, threw elaborate parties, dressed to the nines, and summered in special enclaves.
But the rug was pulled from under all African Americans when they were betrayed by the federal government as the cost of reconciliation with the South. In response to renewed oppression, Murray and others in his class fought back, establishing themselves as inspiring race activists. Elizabeth Dowling Taylor’s powerful work brings to light a dark chapter of race relations that too many have yet to own.
“Brilliantly researched...Taylor knows how to weave an emotional story of how race and class have long played a role in determining who succeeds and who fails.”
