Scholars continue to differ over when African Americans' struggle for civil rights began--as well as whether it has actually ended. In the long-awaited volume in our illustrious American History Series, Daniel Aldridge presents a critical and analytical study of the many different leaders and organizations, with special attention to the largely unsung ones whom most student readers never hear about, whose efforts eventually overturned the South's legal and extralegal system of racial discrimination known as Jim Crow, radically transforming society in that blacks fully became part of the American nation. Regardless of one's point of view, no one can dispute that African Americans' long but successful quest for civil rights stands as one of the defining elements in United States history.

Becoming American makes ideal reading for courses on the history of the Civil Rights movement as well as a superb supplement to survey courses in African American and United States history.

Daniel W. Aldridge III received his B.A. from Michigan State University and his Ph.D. from Emory University. He also holds a J.D. from Northwestern University Law School and practiced law for several years in Los Angeles, California. He is currently Associate Professor of History at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina, where he teaches courses in African American and United States cultural history. He taught previously at Emory University, from which he received an Emory Minority Fellowship and a Dean's Teaching Fellowship, and at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. His recent works include an article in Diplomatic History on African Americans' anti-colonial efforts during the World War II years.