Review
"Clearly written and exhaustively researched, Schweinitz's book is a timely complement to revisionist studies of the civil rights era. . . . Future work in several branches of literary, cultural, and historical studies will be enhanced by Schweinitz's fresh consideration of the decisive role of young people in the black freedom struggle."
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African American Review"Weaving together stories and facts from a multitude of sources, de Schweinitz demonstrates that the new generation wanted America, and their parents, to live up to the ideals that the nation espoused during the war. . . . Compelling. . . . A significant contribution to the burgeoning field of the history of children in America."
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Journal of Social History"[An] innovative study."
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Arkansas Historical Quarterly"A richly textured, finely woven, and ambitious study."
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Journal of American History"De Schweinitz does a fine job of taking depictions of children and childhood seriously, without sentimentality or cynicism. . . . De Schweinitz has done a commendable job of bringing scholarly attention to a long-neglected subject."
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North Carolina Historical Review"Rebecca de Schweinitz adds to our understanding of the [civil rights] movement with her nuanced, sophisticated, and insightful look at the role children played in this revolution….Few studies of the civil rights movement present the movement in such a dynamic and dialectical manner."
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Arkansas Review"A well-researched seminal work, the author documents not only the use of children's images and issues by African American organizations such as the NAACP, but also the extensive role children and youth played in the movement itself. . . . Highly recommended."
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Choice"Draws effectively on an array of oral testimonies by people who, as children, joined the civil rights movement. . . . De Schweinitz is a mature, graceful writer, and her book deserves to be widely read and appreciated for the important achievement it is."
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Journal of Southern History"A powerful reminder that each generation's struggles are not just about themselves, but about the young to follow."
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The Sixties: A Journal of History, Politics and Culture
From the Inside Flap
Rebecca de Schweinitz offers a new perspective on the civil rights movement by bringing children and youth to the fore. In the first book to connect young people and shifting ideas about children and youth with the black freedom struggle, de Schweinitz explains how popular ideas about youth and young people themselves--both black and white--influenced the long history of the movement.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
