New Releases by Dorothy Sterling

Biography, autobiography, and memoir is among the best ways to teach students to appreciate nonfiction reading.

This is the autobiography of a quiet woman whose exceptional social conscience and actions are an example of the influence one person can have on society without being either rich or in a lofty political position. As a young woman, Dorothy Sterling's concern for working people in America led her to the Communist Party in the 1930's, a refuge for many with noble intentions. In the 1950s, her concern for the plight of African Americans led her to help integrate her own community of Rye, New York. She went on to become one of the most prolific authors of works of African American history, first for young readers with books such as Mary Jane, the first book about a young black girl growing up in the South. Later works for adults were equally important and influential, including a documentary book on black women's lives which would become a play performed throughout the country and a life of Abolitionist Abby Kelly. Sterling's fascination and concern for the environment led her to write a wonderful natural history guide to Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, Long Island, and the islands in between. Still active at 90, her most recent triumph was to open her own road to oystermen, whose access to local salt flats had been denied by wealthy summer residents.

A biography of the senior founder of the Women's Rights Movement, published for the 150th anniversary of the Women's Rights Convention.

Decades before Marcus Garvey, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Malcolm X, Martin Robison Delany (1812–1885) proclaimed his pride in being black, and demanded not only emancipation but independence for African Americans. Grandson of an African prince, son of a slave, Delany lived a life of singular achievement: the first African-American explorer to venture into the heart of Africa; the publisher, editor, and writer of one of the first black newspapers in the U.S.; one of the first three blacks admitted to Harvard Medical School; the first black to hold field grade rank of U.S. Army major during the Civil War; as well as prominent careers as an author, doctor, ethnologist, orator, judge, Freedmen's Bureau official, and spokesman for black nationalism. This assiduously researched biography brings into vivid focus the life and times of Delany, whose militant, uncompromising voice is as vital today as it was more than a century ago.

Biography of Abby Kelly, who in preCivil War America fought to eliminate slavery and racism.

Three heroic women whose stories, in the words of Margaret Walker, "every woman, man, and child should know": Ellen Craft, the daring runaway Georgia slave who used her freedom to serve the cause of abolition; Ida B. Wells, the firebrand journalist whose crusade against lynching awakened the consciousness of a nation; and Mary Church Terrell, a gifted and untiring leader in the movement for suffrage, civil rights, and world peace. Through painstaking research, Sterling not only produces a fascinating account of three outstanding leaders; she also documents the role hitherto "faceless, nameless millions of African American women" have played in shaping our culture and history. Reflecting and connecting the historical struggle of the years 1826 through 1954, Black Foremothers will captivate and inspire readers, young and old.

Did you know that horseshoe crabs have been around for 200 million years? That mussels "spin" long anchor lines and climb steep slopes with them? Do you know what a "Beetlebung" tree is?

An account of the development of the movement from slavery to black power.

Explains in simple terms what birds and animals do and what happens to plants and trees in the fall of the year.

Short biographies of four black leaders whose beliefs and achievements are important in the history of black Americans.

Describes the events leading up to the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation that freed over four million slaves in the United States.

Provides information on how to catch and raise a caterpillar.

The habits of the blue jay are observed by a young girl during the course of one year.

Robert Smalls, born a slave in Beaufort, South Carolina, grew up to become the best pilot in Charleston until Fort Sumter fell. Then he decided to take the paddle-wheel steamer, the "Planter," over to the Northern forces and free himself and his family. Thereafter he became a man who fought for freedom in the United States Army, and later went to Congress and worked through the hopes and disillusionment of Reconstruction. (Publisher).