Books
Black IndiansThe compelling account of how two heritages united in their struggle to gain freedom and equality in America—now updated with new and revised content.
The Black WestInspired by a conversation William Loren Katz had with Langston Hughes, The Black West presents long-neglected stories of daring pioneers such as Nat Love (Deadwood Dick) and Mary Fields (Stagecoach Mary). New Edition published by Chicago Review Press in 2019.
Black Womenof the Old West
This book traces how African American women challenged white bigotry, labored to create new lives and ultimately helped to transform sparse frontier settlements into thriving [western] states.
EyewitnessFirst-hand accounts of pivotal moments in African American history, ranging from recollections of the slave trade, accounts of the Civil War, and impassioned words about the Civil Rights Movement, to the current state of Black America.
Black LegacyThis book traces New York City’s Black legacy from Dutch Governor Peter Minuit to Black Lives Matter and reveals how people of color built today’s New York while they fought to end slavery and discrimination. New, updated edition published by Seven Stories Press in 2024.
The Cruel YearsA vivid, poignant, and candid glimpse of the turmoil, oppression and injustice of the early 1900s through the words of 22 working women and men who reveal the anger, despair, and resiliency of their lives.
Black PioneersOut of a past little noted in history texts comes this tale of African American pioneers in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. Katz reveals a frontier saga that has often been glossed over or lost.
Breaking the Chains“He wrote about heroic Black women, slave rebellions, and antislavery movements when discussing such matters was dangerous and seen as unpatriotic.” – Jesse Weaver Shipley, professor of African and African American Studies and Oratory at Dartmouth College
New edition published by Seven Stories Press in 2023.
The Lincoln Brigade: A Picture HistoryThe Lincoln Brigade was a group of 2,800 enthusiastic young men and women who volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War to save the democratic government of Spain from a military takeover. From 1936 to 1939 before the US entry into World War II, they courageously fought against armies led by fascists Hitler and Mussolini. This American contingent was the first U.S. armed force that was racially integrated from top to bottom. In the 1980s, William Loren Katz and Marc Crawford accompanied members of the Lincoln Brigade to Spain, interviewed them on old battlefields, and in the process unearthed documents and photographs for this book.