UNC Press prepares for a summer release of six titles in African American history

This summer, UNC Press is set to release six major titles in African American history and urban studies in their Spring/Summer 2025 Catalog. These books aim to bring new perspectives to pivotal moments in history, from struggles with segregation and radical movements that created political change. The authors highlight overlooked historical narratives and offer new analyses of how race, class and political power intersect to shape the experiences of African American communities. 

Craig Thompson Friend knew he would be a historian since the 7th grade, and now he is a history professor at North Carolina State University. His biography of Lunsford Lane brings to life the legend of a man born into enslavement in North Carolina overcoming challenges to free him and his family. "Becoming Lunsford Lane: An American Aeneas" conveys Lane's transformation from enslavement to becoming a self-made man powered by his storytelling, entrepreneurship and activism. 

Friend has been researching Lane for 10 years using primary and secondary sources that range from newspapers and court cases to police records and land records. Lane’s 1842 slave narrative served as the starting point for Friend's exploration, but Friend has been piecing Lane’s life together through his extensive research over the years. 

"I don't think I'm in love with Lunsford, but I do think that I have an intimate relationship to him," Friend said. "And one thing that's really bizarre is that his birthday is May 30th and so is mine." 

Friend uncovered many hidden details about Lane’s life, exploring the challenges he faced in establishing a new life for his family, including the hardships in his marriage and the loss of children. 

Friend’s biography of Lunsford Lane is set to be released on May 27, 2025.

Ashley Howard’s title "Midwest Unrest: 1960s Urban Rebellions and the Black Freedom Movement" is due for release on June 17, 2025, and focuses on the urban rebellions of the 1960s that swept across the American Midwest. The book examines rebellions in Cincinnati, Omaha, and Milwaukee, which are typically absent from mainstream narratives of the Black Freedom Movement. 

Howard, a professor in history and African-American studies at the University of Iowa, has been working on this project for over 20 years. Using arrest records, Kerner Commission documents and other public archives, Howard has been able to further explain how these uprisings are responses to systemic racial inequality. 

Howard has also conducted around 50 of her own oral history interviews, getting the personal accounts of whomever was willing to talk with her. She used these oral interviews to further her research in connecting the past with the present.  

“Because I was doing these interviews in the background of Ferguson and Baltimore, I kind of got layers of how people saw their own participation in the uprisings 50 years ago and how they were interpreting these similar events happening in real time today,” Howard said.

Howard’s work emphasizes that these urban disturbances were not just about violence but about Black communities reclaiming their power and creating change. By expanding the scope of the Black Freedom Movement to include the Midwest, Howard aims to show readers the history and Black experience of the Midwest. 

Karen Benjamin’s “Good Parents, Better Homes, and Great Schools: Selling Segregation before the New Deal”, is slated for release on July 15, 2025. This book uncovers the strategic construction of residential and educational segregation in cities before the New Deal. Focusing on cities like Atlanta, Raleigh and Houston, Benjamin reveals how city planners and government officials worked to create and maintain racial divides that targeted Black families and their access to education and housing.

Karen Benjamin is the Lester Brune and Joan Brune Endowed Chair of History at Elmhurst University. She has been working on this project for around 15 years and wants readers to understand the importance of community.

“That, I think, would be my takeaway,” Benjamin said. “Is that often what's best for all kids is helpful for our kids too.”

Through her book Benjamin emphasizes that a society that benefits all children ultimately helps one’s own; explaining that when more people thrive, the economy strengthens. However, extreme competition and systemic issues – such as cuts to education and redlining – create stress for families and their children.

In addition to these three forthcoming works, UNC Press will also release three more books that highlight African American history and urban studies:

“Hubert Harrison: Hidden Genius of Black Radicalism” by Brian Kwoba (June 17, 2025)

“The Memoirs of Robert and Mabel Williams: African American Freedom, Armed Resistance, and International Solidarity”, edited by Akinyele Omowale Umoja, Gloria Aneb House, and John H. Bracey Jr. (June 17, 2025)

“Black Movement: African American Urban History since the Great Migration”, edited by Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar (April 15, 2025)

Preorder these books on the UNC Press Website today. 

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