The autobiography of William Sanders Scarborough- An American Journey from Slavery to Scholarship edited  with an introduction by Michele Valerie Ronnick forward by Henry Louis Gates Junior – published African American Life Series – Wayne  State University Press Detroit

Reviewer Mia Morris

William Sanders Scarborough was the first African American member of the Modern Language Association and a true champion of higher education. Scarborough advocated reading writing and teaching of liberal arts at a time when illiteracy was rampant due to slavery’s legacy.

This self portrait  traces  Scarborough’s   path out of slavery in Macon George to a  prolific scholarly career culminating with his presidency of the Wilberforce University. This book is important as it helps us to understand the power of formalizing the intellectual tradition of the black scholar. This book is written meticulously with the combination of extensive notes, census  records and  church registries, as a reader you are taken on a roller coaster journey of emotions as you read blow by blow account of his historic struggle to rise above insurmountable   obstacle. The book is able to draw on his extensive notes written in his last four years of his life.The Autobiography of William Sanders Scarborough: An American Journey from Slavery to Scholarship (African American Life)
by Henry Louis, Jr. Gates, Michele Valerie Ronnick
30 November, 2004

Price: £18.50