Our Stories: Black Families in Early Dallas ed. by George Keaton Jr. and Judith Garrett Segura (review)

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Reviewed by:

• Our Stories: Black Families in Early Dallas ed. by George Keaton Jr. and Judith Garrett Segura
• Makenzie A. Wiley

Our Stories: Black Families in Early Dallas. Ed. By George Keaton Jr. & Judith Garrett Segura. (Denton: University of North Texas Press, 2022. Pp. 334. Illustrations, notes, index.)

This collection of stories and personal histories focuses on Dallas, but it aims to provide a deeper perspective on the lives of all African Americans in Texas. The book is a republication and expansion of two earlier works produced by Black Dallas Remembered, a non-profit history organization [End Page 355] led by Mamie L. McKnight. Entitled African Families and Settlements in Dallas and First African American Families in Dallas, these brief works appeared in 1990 and 1987, respectively. For this edition, editors George Keaton Jr. and Judith Garret Segura have added their notes and commentary throughout while updating some information to modernize the text and bring the monograph to new audiences. The monograph itself now acts as a great foundation for examining the establishment of Black settlements in the Dallas area, while also providing context regarding how those areas transformed as Dallas became the larger metroplex it is today.

Looking at three aspects of Black life in Dallas, the authors discuss the establishment of several towns following the Civil War, the schools that served those communities, and the major families of the area. Beginning with this background on Black communities and settlements founded in the Dallas area following emancipation, the monograph provides a comprehensive narrative of the subsequent development of Black neighborhoods in Dallas. Some communities mentioned are Booker T. Washington Addition, Eagle Ford, the Fields Community, the Thomas Hill Community, Mill City, North Dallas, Oak Cliff, The Prairie, South Dallas, Upper and Lower White Rock, and the West Dallas Community, all areas that became large subdivisions in modern Dallas. While the authors discuss each town individually, they also look at similarities between the communities, like the role of churches, schools, and important families that helped to settle the area. Additionally, the authors use oral history transcripts to provide more detail concerning the settlements of the Black communities in Dallas.

The authors do an excellent job of completing the picture of early Dallas; however, the greatest accomplishment of the book is their ability to humanize the settlers of so many of the Black communities. Despite the hardships and discrimination that plagued Black life in the period, this work shows how the first Black settlers in Dallas should be honored for the great steps they took in not only enduring but becoming a part of progress in Dallas. By providing the additional background of not only the settlements themselves but also the communities and daily lives of the original settlers, the authors provide a complete look at what life was like for these individuals.

Our Stories is a great example of how community studies can integrate into the overall historiography of African Americans in Texas. By using this book as a guide for those currently studying the movements of African Americans following emancipation, historians can gain a better understanding of how their lives evolved. Scholars who wish to learn more about the daily lives of African Americans in Texas will find the edited work a great aid to their studies, as the original author, and the editors who worked on the republished edition, bring early Dallas into the modern historiography of Black Texans. [End Page 356]

Makenzie A. Wiley Texas A&M—Central Texas Copyright © 2022 The Texas State Historical Association ...