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Chapters: Edgar Toppin, Carolyn R. Payton, Martin David Jenkins, Clarence Cameron White, Undine Smith Moore, Rose Browne. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 30. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Edgar Allan Toppin, Sr. (January 22, 1928 - December 8, 2004) was an African American professor of history, and an author who specialized in Civil War, Reconstruction and African American history. He spent the majority of his 40+ year teaching career at Virginia State University, and wrote ten books on the subjects of American and African American history. He served on several historical boards including the National Park Service, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History, the later serving as President. As President, he was instrumental in turning Black History Week into Black History Month in 1976. He was born in Harlem, New York to immigrants Maude Catherine Joel (Bermuda) and Vivien Leopold Toppin (Grenada). He was the second of six children; Lucille, George, Mary, Sammy, Eleanor (in birth order). Named after writer Edgar Allan Poe, he had a passion for reading and learning. He would often escape to the roof of his apartment building on 114th Street and read in order to nurture his yearning for knowledge. His family was poor and on welfare, and growing up during the Great Depression was especially hard. His wardrobe of white shirts and navy blue pants was a symbol of poverty so recognizable that "when you walked into a place, people could spot you a mile away," he recalls. At age 16, he attended New York City College and after one semester, enrolled at Howard University on scholarship. He received his B.A. 1949 and M.A. 1950 in History before deciding to matriculate to Northwestern University. He earned his Ph.D. in History in 1955 a...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=12320397 ... Read more