Editorial Content for Pathfinders: The Journeys of 16 Extraordinary Black Souls
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
In PATHFINDERS, author Tonya Bolden shares sketches of 16 extraordinary African Americans, people she refers to as "pathfinders." Each one, in his or her own way, made a path for themselves, a way to survive and make a difference in their world.
"I learned a lot about this fascinating group of individuals. The writing is lively and the pages are filled with interesting illustrations and sidebars."
Among those included are Sadie Alexander, who participated in the Civil Rights movement; Jackie Ormes, a female cartoonist; James Forten, who was taken prisoner during the American Revolution but later became one of Philadelphia's leading opponents of slavery; and Richard Potter, who wowed audiences with his magic, hypnosis and ventriloquist acts.
The author includes helpful and additional information in each sketch. There are timelines of each person's life, historical facts about what was happening in the world during that person's life, as well as brief bios of other prominent figures from that time period. A Glossary, Notes and an Index can be found at the end of the book.
I enjoyed reading this book as, I must confess, I wasn't familiar with most of the people mentioned in the text. I learned a lot about this fascinating group of individuals. The writing is lively and the pages are filled with interesting illustrations and sidebars. A section at the back of the book called Selected Sources provides a list of the sources the author used to write the text. This list can be perused for ideas for further reading about these individuals.
This is a great book for those who are interested in African American history. The text would work particularly well as a resource in the classroom during Black History Month.
Teaser
PATHFINDERS is a collective biography of sixteen diverse American men and women of African descent who made their mark on American history in the 18th to 20th centuries. People who dared to dream, take risks, and create goals not only for themselves, but for others and the betterment of their society, too.
Promo
PATHFINDERS is a collective biography of sixteen diverse American men and women of African descent who made their mark on American history in the 18th to 20th centuries. People who dared to dream, take risks, and create goals not only for themselves, but for others and the betterment of their society, too.
About the Book
Over the centuries, untold numbers of black men and women in America have achieved great things against the odds. PATHFINDERS is a collective biography of sixteen diverse American men and women of African descent who made their mark on American history in the 18th to 20th centuries. People who dared to dream, take risks, and create goals not only for themselves, but for others and the betterment of their society, too. Award-winning author Tonya Bolden offers an insightful look at these figures, from Venture Smith, who bought his freedom; to Sadie Alexander, who contributed to the Civil Rights movement in the United States; to Katherine Johnson, who helped the United States land on the moon.
Among the incredible people in this nonfiction masterpiece are James Forten (1766–1842), a powder boy then prisoner of war during the Revolution, who grew up to be the captain of his own ship and one of Philadelphia’s leading abolitionists and wealthiest citizen; Richard Potter (1783-1835), an accomplished magician, ventriloquist, and hypnotist who paved the way for other well-known entertainers like Harry Houdini; Paul Revere Williams (1894–1980), born poor and an orphan by age four, who became known as the “Architect to the Stars” (among them Danny Thomas); Jackie Ormes (1911–1985), who first made her mark as a cartoonist in the 1930s; and Katherine Johnson (1918), a mathematician and physicist whose calculations were key to the successful missions of astronauts Alan Shepard, John Glenn, and Neil Armstrong. Each evocative profile includes an enlightening look at the historical build up and several images ranging from paintings and photographs to primary documents. The book ends with endnotes, a timeline, a bibliography, and an index. Ideal for Black History Month and common core usage, this book will also find wide appeal year-round for curious minds looking to discover fascinating pieces of American History, as well as interesting career possibilities.
