Reviews
Katherine Reynolds Chaddock's The Spingarn Brothers: White Privilege, Jewish Heritage, and the Struggle for Racial Equality is an engaging dual biography of temperamentally different siblings who found ways to build and sustain the principal civil rights organization of their times.
Well written, thoughtfully researched, excellently sourced, and well organized. The story of the Spingarn brothers is fascinating and provocative, tracing how these two wealthy men became engaged supporters and long-serving leaders in the NAACP, one of the country's most important organizations for racial justice. Chaddock also examines their early lives and their other intriguing professional and personal efforts.
Katherine Reynolds Chaddock's dual biography of the Spingarn brothers fills a significant hole in the literature on the early NAACP. Chaddock traces their important contributions to the NAACP and analyzes the complex ways in which their racial and socioeconomic privilege and Jewish heritage played a role in these contributions. A must read for anyone interested in these topics.
This engaging biography of Joel and Arthur Spingarn shows how their Jewish heritage, professional attainments, and passion for public service led to unlikely roles as founding leaders of the NAACP. Wonderfully crafted and sophisticated, Chaddock's work shows the brothers' durable imprint on the civil rights struggle and its impact on them.
Book Details
Introduction: Brothers and Brotherhood
1. Sons of Determination
2. The Columbia Stamp
3. No Simple Launch
4. Roots of Activism
5. Goodbye Columbia
6. Joining by Doing
7. New Tactics for New Abolition
8. Great
Introduction: Brothers and Brotherhood
1. Sons of Determination
2. The Columbia Stamp
3. No Simple Launch
4. Roots of Activism
5. Goodbye Columbia
6. Joining by Doing
7. New Tactics for New Abolition
8. Great War; Great Debates
9. Aftermath
10. Ongoing Challenges and Final Change
11. A New Era for Old Soldiers
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index