himself that he was called to the pastorate of the First Baptist Church
(white) of Portsmouth, Va. Benjamin Banneker's proficiency in mathematics
enabled him to make the first clock manufactured in the United States. As
the author himself says, "the instances of Negroes struggling to obtain an
education read like the beautiful romances of a people in an heroic age."

Indeed the reaction which developed against allowing the slaves to pick up
the few fragments of knowledge which they had been able to secure was due
to some extent to the enthusiasm and eagerness with which they availed
themselves of the opportunities afforded them and the salutary effect
which the enlightenment had on their character. The account of the
establishment of schools and churches for slaves who were transplanted
to free soil is one of the most interesting chapters in the book. The
struggle for the higher education shows that tremendous obstacles had
been removed, before the race was allowed to secure the opportunity
which it so earnestly desired. In the chapter on vocational training the
effort made by colored people themselves to secure economic equality,
and the determined opposition to it manifested by white mechanics are
clearly and strongly set forth. In the appendix of the book one finds a
number of interesting and valuable treatises, while the bibliography is
of great assistance to any student of race history.

In addition to the fund of information which is secured by reading Dr.
Woodson's book, a perusal of it can not help but increase one's respect
for a race which under the most disheartening and discouraging
circumstances strove so heroically and persistently to cultivate its
mind and allowed nothing to turn it aside and conquer its will.

"The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861" is a work of profound
historical research, full of interesting data on a most important phase