The Marrow of Tradition
Part of Belt's Revivals Series and an undisputed classic of African American literature. With a new introduction by Wiley Cash (When Ghosts Come Home).On November 10, 1898, a mob of 400 people rampaged through the streets of Wilmington, North Carolina, killing as many as 60 citizens, burning down the newspaper office, overthrowing the newly elected leaders, and installing a new white supremacist government. In a violent reaction prompted by the increasing political powers African Americans in the town were gaining during Reconstruction, the Wilmington Race Riots--also known as the Wilmington Insurrection and the Wilmington Massacre--was the only successful coup d'etat on American soil.The Marrow of Tradition is a fictionalized account of this important, under-studied event. Charles W. Chesnutt, an African American writer from North Carolina who lived in Cleveland as an adult and was the first black professional writer in the nation, narrates the story of "Wellington" North Carolina t