THE ORIGINAL BLACK ELITE Daniel Murray and the Story of a Forgotten Era

Narrator Karen Chilton draws listeners into the life story of an African-American man of wealth who enjoyed fine Washington dinner parties but eventually was restricted to segregated lunch and locker facilities at his workplace. Daniel Murray (1861-1925) reached the position of assistant librarian at the Library of Congress, only to be demoted as conditions deteriorated for African-Americans. His story shows both the success that was possible for some black people in the late nineteenth century and the indignities they faced as Jim Crow laws took hold. Chilton honors both Murray's dramatic personal story and the many aspects of black history that Elizabeth Dowling Taylor recounts through the prism of his story. Taylor's writing and research reveal little-known details of our history still relevant a century later. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2018]