Black mosaic: Essays in Afro-American history and historiography

by Benjamin Arthur Quarles

From the introduction to this It has been nearly half a century since Benjamin Quarles published his first scholarly article in the field of Afro-American history. With the appearance of his biography of Frederick Douglass in 1948, Quarles became a major contributor to the history of the black experience from the Revolutionary War through the Civil War. His leading works include the standard volumes on the role of Negroes in both of those conflicts, pioneering studies on black participation in the abolitionist movement, and two monographs on the interrelation between blacks and major white antislavery figures. Given the collective importance of this corpus of work, including the essays reprinted herein, we are all greatly in his debt.Quarles served as a model to a whole generation of scholars in Afro-American history, white and black alike. His syntheses of Civil War and abolition, his authoritative book and articles on the Revolution, his sensitive analysis of Lincoln and the blacks are all works that remain unequaled or unsurpassed. Even his pioneering Frederick Douglass remains a solid and highly respected monograph. The present and the next generation of historians are, and will be, writing from a later perspective and addressing themselves to different questions, but Quarles's works not only plowed new ground; they will live as standard treatments of topics for years to come.

213 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Quarles was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His father was a subway porter. He married twice, first to Vera Bullock Quarles, who died in 1951, and second to Ruth Brett Quarles. He had two daughters, Pamela and Roberta.

In his Twenties, Quarles enrolled at Shaw University and received his B.A. degree in 1931, M.A. degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1933, and Ph.D. in 1940. He worked as an instructor of history at Shaw University, Raleigh, North Carolina (1935–39), a professor and dean at Dillard University, New Orleans, Louisiana (1939–1953), and a professor of history and chair of department at Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland (1953–1974). At Morgan, Quarles reached near legendary status as the long-time head of the History Department, a revered teacher and counselor, an intellectual and professional mentor for two generations of African American scholars. Many of his books were required reading in the African American history courses that sprang up in eastern American Universities during the 1960s.

He was an active member of many political and historical organizations such as Project Advisory Committee on Black Congress Members, Department of the Army Historical Advisory Committee, and American Council of Learned Societies. He was one of the few men in the profession who openly supported the founding of the Association of Black Women Historians.

Quarles died of a heart attack at age of 92. In 1988 Morgan State University dedicated The Benjamin A. Quarles African-American Studies Room in the school library as a repository for his books, manuscripts, and memorabilia.