The eleven essays included in this collection were painstakingly researched by students in African American Kansas, a Chapman Center for Rural Studies Course offered in 2008 and 2009. The lives and experiences of early black settlers in north-central Kansas appear concretely and vividly through these studies. Focused mainly on Riley, Geary, and Wabaunsee Counties, a few essays also include sites and persons in Hodgeman and Shawnee Counties. With the exception of the profile of early black female rancher Dicey Nichols by James Rivers, all of these projects were undertaken by undergraduates at Kansas State University. Student commitment to hours of fieldwork in cemeteries, abandoned pastures, tiny towns, depopulated landscapes, archives, museums, and courthouses has resulted in a historical rescue. Without this effort, the lives of African American settlers in this area of pre-1900 Kansas would remain obscure.

Dr. M.J. Morgan
Chapman Center for Rural Studies
Department of History
May, 2010