The Marion Thompson Wright Reader

Edited and with a Biographical Introduction by Graham Russell Gao Hodges

Edited by Graham Russell Gao Hodges

Rutgers University Press

In The Marion Thompson Wright Reader, acclaimed historian Graham Russell Hodges provides a scholarly, accessible introduction to a modern edition of Marion Thompson Wright’s classic book, The Education of Negroes in New Jersey and to her full body of scholarly work. First published in 1941 by Teachers College Press, Thompson’s landmark study has been out of print for decades. Such rarity understates the book’s importance. Thompson’s major book and her life are significant for the histories of New Jersey, African Americans, local and national, women’s and education history. Drawing upon Wright's work, existing scholarship, and new archival research, this new landmark scholarly edition, which includes an all-new biography of this pioneering scholar, underscores the continued relevance of Marion Thompson Wright.

The Marion Thompson Wright Companion has great potential to be the book of record on African American history in the state. The extensive research, numerous examples, and textual connections make this book a major contribution to New Jersey black history. Maxine Lurie, author of Envisioning New Jersey: An Illustrated History of the Garden State

Hodges has organized a wealth of important writings authored by Wright in this Reader that now might be used by scholars interested in continuing to discuss Wright’s life, and significance, not only in the history of African Americans in New Jersey but also in the history of the United States. Hettie Williams, NJS Journal

MARION THOMPSON WRIGHT (1902-1962) was a professor of education at Howard University. She wrote The Education of Negroes in New Jersey (Teachers College Press, 1941).

GRAHAM RUSSELL GAO HODGES is the George Dorland Langdon, Jr. Professor of History and Africana and Latin American studies at Colgate University. He is the author or editor of sixteen books, including Slavery and Freedom in the Rural North: African Americans in Monmouth County, New Jersey, 1660-1870; Root & Branch: African Americans in New York and East Jersey, 1613-1863; and Black New Jersey (Rutgers University Press).

Contents
Epigram
Acknowledgments
List of Illustrations

Introduction
The Education of Negroes in New Jersey

Articles:
Text of “New Jersey Laws and the Negro” The Journal of Negro History, 28: 2 (April 1943), 156-199
Text of “Negro Suffrage in New Jersey, 1776-1875,” The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 33, No. 2 (April 1948), 168-223.
Text of “Racial Integration in the Public Schools of New Jersey,” The Journal of Negro Education, 23: 3, Next Steps in Racial Desegregation in Education (Summer, 1954).2882-289.

Reviews and Notes
“Are Colonials People?” Color and Democracy by William E. Burghardt Du Bois, The Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Winter, 1946), pp. 63-65
“It Can Happen Anywhere” If He Hollers, Let Him Go by Chester B. Himes, The Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 15, No. 2 (Spring, 1946) pp. 213-214.
“Notes from Recent Books,” The Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 13, No. 4 (Autumn, 1944), pp. 532-535
“Notes from Recent Books,” The Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 18, No. 2 (Spring, 1949), pp. 155-159

Encyclopedia Entry
“Lucy Diggs Slowe” in Edward T. James, et. Al. Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary, 3 vols. Cambridge: Belknap of Harvard University Press, 1971, 3: 299-300

Marion Thompson Wright Chronological Bibliography
Index

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