Books in print
A Celebration of the Life of William Loren Katz
His life was celebrated at a memorial service on January 11, 2020 at the New York Society for Ethical Culture. Go to the Tributes section to watch the entire memorial service, read individual speeches, published obituaries and letters of remembrance.
The William Loren Katz Collection
The papers and manuscripts of William Loren Katz are archived at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. His collection will be accessible to the public in their reading room. Make an appointment at the Schomburg, and you will be able to review his material and have a window into priceless historical material and his sources and research approach.
“When it comes to digging up the untold stories of black history and culture, Katz is a matchless miner.”
— Herb Boyd
“Bill Katz is one of the few members outside of our community who has made a significant, lasting contribution to it. Black Legacy is a good, clear layman’s book on African Americans in New York.”
— Prof. John Henrik Clarke
Our missions were the same — to break the barriers of miseducation and isolation that has characterized the African American’s experience on this soil, before and after the arrival of Christopher Columbus. – Dr. Ivan Van Sertima
“A remarkable book… Perhaps if kids were taught this version of history, the mad dash of imperialism that marked much of the 20th century would not have occurred” and Black Child Magazine said it was “a classic” whose “many rare, antique engravings and photographs help prove the author’s leading points.” — Mumia Abu Jamal
“One of the layers we’ll have to include [in] a true history of the United States as the genuinely multicultural nation it has always been is this wonderful book. Impressive research, new information in every section . . . and engaging.” —Rosemary L. Bray, New York Sunday Times
Breaking the Chains: African American Slave Resistance
“Breaking the Chains is still fresh, still relevant, and more dangerous than ever. . . . It shows us that the most oppressed and degraded people have the power, capacity, and moral vision to break their own chains and secure liberty, justice and equality for all” — from the Introduction by Robin D. G. Kelley
“The Black West, like Black Indians, is a book that gives us much usable, nearly lost, invaluable history. These books make contemporary comprehensions and alliances between many people(s) possible. They are a guide to the real America that each of us is. Since another of his books, Eyewitness, was published in the Sixties, I have been a devoted admired of William Katz’s work” — Alice Walker
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