In 1993 distinguished historian Nancy L. Grant organized "Blacks and Jews: An American Historical Perspective," a conference held at Washington University in St. Louis and dedicated to the exploration of Black-Jewish relations in twentieth-century America. Featuring presentations by historians, sociologists, and political scientists, this conference reflected Grant's devotion to scholarship on multicultural relations and the continuing struggle for racial equality in the United States. After Grant's untimely death in 1995, V. P. Franklin and the other contributors completed the work of readying these essays for publication with the assistance of the coeditors. African Americans and Jews in the Twentieth Century is the culmination of the innovative research and ideas presented at the conference.

In the long struggle to bring social justice to American society, Blacks and Jews have often been close allies. In both the past and the present, however, there has also been serious conflict and competition between the groups in social, economic, and political spheres.

Focusing on the complexity of the relationships between Blacks and Jews in America, these essays examine the convergence and conflict that have characterized Black-Jewish interactions over the past century. African Americans and Jews in the Twentieth Century provides an intellectual foundation for continued dialogue and future cooperative efforts to improve social justice in this society and will be an invaluable resource for the study of race relations in the United States in the twentieth century.

About the Editors

V. P. Franklin is Professor of History at Drexel University in Philadelphia. He is the editor and author of several books, including most recently Living Our Stories, Telling Our Truths: Autobiography and the Making of the African-American Intellectual Tradition.

Nancy L. Grant was Associate Professor of History at Washington University in St. Louis and the author of TVA and Black Americans: Planning for the Status Quo.

Husband of the late Nancy Grant, Harold M. Kletnick is a Programmer/Analyst for Washington University in St. Louis.

Genna Rae McNeil is Professor of History at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She is the author of Groundwork: Charles Hamilton Houston and the Struggle for Civil Rights and coeditor of several books, including African-Americans and the Living Constitution.

Includes Essays By Genna Rae McNeil Hasia R. Diner Robert A. Hill Vernon J. Williams Jr. Michael Rogin Murray Friedman Cheryl Greenberg Nancy Haggard-Gilson Joe W. Trotter Jr. Winston C. McDowell Marshall F. Stephenson Jr. Herbert Hill Walda Katz-Fishman and Jerome Scott