African American history and radical historiography: essays in honor of Herbert Aptheker

Abstract

Fifty-five years ago a young historian published American Negro Slave Revolts, a book that initially met fierce resistance from established historians but came to change the way African American history is understood and to have a wide impact on the writing of history in general. Herbert Aptheker went on to edit the massive 7-volume Documentary History of the Negro People in the United States. A close friend and colleague of W. E. B. Du Bois, Aptheker for years served as custodian of the Du Bois papers, arranged for their deposit at the University of Massachusetts, and meticulously edited for publication a multivolume set of the Du Bois writings and a three-volume collection of his correspondence. --Publisher's summary.