 The Social Gospel in Black and WhiteAmerican Racial Reform, 1885-1912 by Ralph Luker Winner of a 1992 Outstanding Book Award, Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights in North America In a major revision of accepted wisdom, this book, originally published by UNC Press in 1991, demonstrates that American social Christianity played an important role in racial reform during the period between Emancipation and the civil rights movement. As organizations created by the heirs of antislavery sentiment foundered in the mid-1890s, Ralph Luker argues, a new generation of black and white reformers--many of them representatives of American social Christianity--explored a variety of solutions to the problem of racial conflict. Some of them helped to organize the Federal Council of Churches in 1909, while others returned to abolitionist and home missionary strategies in organizing the NAACP in 1910 and the National Urban League in 1911. A half century later, such organizations formed the institutional core of America's civil rights movement. Luker also shows that the black prophets of social Christianity who espoused theological personalism created an influential tradition that eventually produced Martin Luther King Jr. View table of contents>> Read reviews>>  The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Volume ICalled to Serve, January 1929-June 1951 Edited by Clayborne Carson, Ralph E. Luker, and Penny A. Russell. (A Centennial Book) January 1992 More than two decades since his death, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s ideas--his call for racial equality, his faith in the ultimate triumph of justice, and his insistence on the power of nonviolent struggle to bring about a major transformation of American society--are as vital and timely as ever. The wealth of his writings, both published and unpublished, that constitute his intellectual legacy are now preserved in this authoritative, chronologically arranged, multi-volume edition. Faithfully reproducing the texts of his letters, speeches, sermons, student papers, and articles, this edition has no equal. Volume One contains many previously unpublished documents beginning with the letters King wrote to his mother and father during his childhood. We read firsthand his surprise and delight in his first encounter (during a trip to Connecticut) with the less segregated conditions in the North. Through his student essays and exams, we discover King's doubts about the religion of his father and we can trace his theological development. We learn of his longing for the emotional conversion experience that he witnessed others undergoing, and we follow his search to know God through study at theological seminaries. Throughout the first volume, we are treated to tantalizing hints of his mature rhetorical abilities, as in his 1945 letter to the Atlanta Constitution that spoke out against white racism. Each volume in this series contains an introductory essay that traces the biographical details of Dr. King's life during the period covered. Ample annotations accompany the documents. Each volume also contains a chronology of key events in his life and a "Calendar of Documents" that lists all important, extant documents authored by King or by others, including those that are not trnascribed in the document itself. The preparation of this edition is sponsored by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta with Stanford University and Emory University.  The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Volume IIRediscovering Precious Values, July 1951 - November 1955 Edited by Clayborne Carson, Ralph E. Luker, Penny A. Russell, and Peter Holloran December 1994 Martin Luther King, Jr.'s ideas--his call for racial equality, his faith in the ultimate triumph of justice, his insistence on the power of nonviolence to bring about a major transformation of American society--are as vital and timely as ever. The wealth of his writings, both published and unpublished, are now preserved in this authoritative, chronologically arranged, multi-volume edition. Volume Two begins with King's doctoral work at Boston University and ends with his first year as pastor of the historic Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. It includes papers from his graduate courses and a fully annotated text of his dissertation. There is correspondence with people King knew in his years prior to graduate school and a transcription of the first known recording of a King sermon. We learn, too, that Boston was where King met his future wife, Coretta Scott. Accepting the call to serve Dexter, the young King followed the church's tradition of socially active pastors by becoming involved in voter registration and other social justice issues. In Montgomery he completed his doctoral work, and he and Coretta Scott began their marriage. The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. represents a testament to a man whose life and teaching have had a profound influence, not only on Americans, but on people of all nations. The Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers Project at Stanford University was established by the Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Inc. in 1984.  Black and White Sat Down TogetherThe Reminiscences of an NAACP Founder by Ralph E. Luker, Mary White Ovington Available for the first time in book form, this is the courageous story of a woman who defied social restrictions to co-found the NAACP and to remain in the group’s inner circle through its first 40 years. Ovington recounts her association with such figures as W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington, and James Weldon Johnson, and describes her experiences organizing NAACP chapters in California, the Midwest, and the deep South. For course use in: African-American studies, autobiography, civil rights movement, U.S. history, women’s history  Historical Dictionary of the Civil Rights Movementby Ralph Luker The Historical Dictionary of the Civil Rights Movement is an essential reference work for students and scholars of American history and the civil rights movement. It provides over three hundred concise descriptions of the important people, organizations, events, and the multitude of executive orders, legislative acts, and judicial decisions that played crucial roles in the historic transformation of American society after World War II. Luker includes a historical overview that offers an interpretation of the movement. He also examines the role of women in this movement and the role of four generations of black and white leaders in the cause of racial justice. Includes a chronology of the milestones of the movement and a comprehensive bibliography of primary and secondary sources. A Southern Tradition in Theology and Social Criticism, 1830-1930 The Religious Liberalism and Social Conservatism of James Warley Miles, William Porcher Dubose, and Edgar Gardner Murphy by Ralph Luker A study of three ordained Episcopal clergymen from the South who, as theological "liberals," represented trends and emphases that were a part of the theological and intellectual climate of their time. ". . . a significant contribution to the intellectual history of the south." - Journal of the American Academy of Religion |