UMass Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press

Mitch Kachun

How the public commemoration of emancipation from slavery helped shape African American political culture

"Scholars of African American, intellectual, and cultural history will welcome Kachun’s judicious study of the variety and complexity of nineteenth and early twentieth century emancipation celebrations. . . . In clear, crisp prose, Kachun explains the varieties of freedom festivals and assesses their diverse meaning to whites and blacks alike.”

History: Reviews of New Books

“Kachun begins the long overdue project of restoring African American commemorations to their proper place in the civic life of nineteenth century America. His particular focus is emancipation celebrations, but his book addresses American and African American histor-ical memory more broadly. . . . A superb book that provides an essential foundation for subsequent scholarship on the topic."

Civil War Book Review

“Kachun recaptures the reality of blacks’ presence in public space, and their determination to assert a black-inclusive version of U.S. history. In addition, the author sensitively recounts conflicting black viewpoints on the making and maintaining of a commemorative tradition, as well as regional variations in the making and keeping of that tradition. . . . Substantially advances our knowledge of black organizations and interactions in the creation of a black commemorative tradition.”

Choice

“Drawing upon a diverse array of primary sources, . . . Kachun provides an impressive analysis of how African American leaders used freedom celebrations to create a collective memory, to uplift the race, and, more importantly, to claim their political rights.”

American Quarterly

“Kachun traces a distinctive era in the formation of African American institutions of memory and activism in his examination of the phenomenon of freedom festivals, which proliferated in the years 1808–1915. . . . Kachun deftly teases out the complexity of this history. He chronicles simultaneous flux and continuity in the freedom festival tradition and illustrates organizers’ difficult task of creating a distinct African American identity while attempting to demonstrate the inherent Americanness of African Americans to the broader society. . . . Highly recommended to readers interested in African American history, the transition from slavery to freedom, and broader questions about the construction of African American historical consciousness and the making of history.”

Journal of American History

“A major contribution to black culture,. . .filling in a historical gap about African American festivals of freedom that have too long escaped our calendar of celebrations."

African American Review

"Kachun’s work helps give greater dimension to African American struggle to carve out a place in American society. . . . Festivals of Freedom is a very good study of how African Americans have sought to use public space and the public sphere to advance freedom and equality. Kachin's use of editorials from African American newspaper and the text of Freedom Day speeches is particular engaging. Readers interested in African American history, African Americans' transition from slavery to freedom, African American identity and historical consciousness, and African American institutional life would benefit from reading this book."

Indiana Magazine of History

Mitch Kachun is associate professor of history at Western Michigan University.

Black Studies / American History
360 pp., 15 illus.
$22.95s paper, ISBN 978-1-55849-528-9
April 2006

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