The Original Black Elite: Daniel Murray and the Story of a Forgotten Era Hardcover – January 31, 2017

Excellent book! Tells the story of Reconstruction's very good results, before racists were able to once again roll back all the Rights gained. Done by telling the story of one successful man, and his family (a true story, btw), keeping it very engrossing, while giving the chance to learn crucial information and our American history, that is intentionally glossed over and/or fully omited in schools.A great read!

This very informative book tells a part of history that has not been adequately told. Daniel Murray was able to use his connections to become a Deputy Librarian at the Library of Congress, and then use that position as his base to build a national reputation while becoming the leading member of the Black Elite in Washington DC. This sets up perspective for the devastating effects of President Wilson's re-introduction of segregation and purging of the black elite in Washington. One needs to know this story in order to understand the politics and social scene in Washington today.

A must read for people who thought they knew so much about American racism.This book, his life and family, covers the decades that Americans have forgotten, or don’t care to remember.It is the basis for all that has been seen since the advent of the 1960’s civil rights movement, and the clear reason for that movement, rooted in a four hundred year exclusion and denigration of one part of the human race.And that is the America many don’t care to talk about. Smiling Faces Tell Lies, a song of the seventies, says it best.

The book came in a great physical condition and while I paid for a used copy I believe it was new or either in really good condition which was a plus.Ms. Taylor does a great job here with the telling of the story of the original black elite. Although I feel that the story could have been greatly condensed and still maintain it’s integrity. I gave it 3 stars for that reason, some things could have been left out.There’s a lot of verbiage used in the book which makes it read more like a textbook/reference book. I saw some other reviewers say that this book focuses more so on Daniel Murray, which should be expected by the title, however Mrs. Taylor does weave in the story of other Black elites who were prominent in D.C. at the time (Mary church Terrell, Paul Laurence Dunbar, & Milton Holland to name a few)of Mr. Murray’s climb up the caste system. I chose this book over “Our Kind of People” by Lawrence O Graham because I was more so interested in learning about the life of Daniel Murray and in turn His son Nat (founding member of the first black fraternity for AA college men) Overall very good book to help one understand the rise and “fall” of the black elite during a time in history when most people thought we were still inferior, very refreshing to know that black people existed outside of the mammy/field boy stereotype.

An exceptional chronicle of the life of one family, their brilliance, tenacity, and courage in the era that morphed into the Jim Crow status imposed on Africa Americans for the ensuing seven decades. The lives of the Murrays and their friends, though elegantly elite was still separate from the Anglo Saxon establishment in the Nation's capital. Nonetheless, despite their struggles they made significant contributions to educational and literary institutions as we know them today. Elizabeth Taylor has presented well researched facts unknown to many and important to read.

This book is so well done it is incredible the amount of labor the author expended to bring to life the most exceptional librarian..leader and author..i cant believe the things i dont know and this book shows us how sophisticated the efforts were to fight the foolishness of racial prejudice at the turn of the century...HIGHLY RECOMMEND...great story of a great man...

This is a portrait of an era of US history, a period of time that has been largely overlooked by many scholars and authors but one that is important to our fuller understanding of our nation.Follow Daniel and Anna Murray as they make a life in Washington, D.C. during a very crucial period in the US. And sadly, witness the rise of Jim Crow and white supremacy.I found the book to be truly enlightening; a must-read for anyone wishing for a better understanding of Washington's history and the foundational contributions made by so many great black Americans.

It is hard to say everything that needs to be said about this book. Ever history major should be required to read this book. It is really an eye opener of how this country treated African Americans between the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement in the fifty's and sixties.This book had a powerful influence on me as a white American. For those that think we haven't made any progress this book will change their minds. Not that we don't have much more to accomplish.

The author simply does not know how to write an interesting and compelling story especially in the case of an African American in post civil war America. It was like reading the minutes of a civil organization. Endless detail about luncheons and dinners. Little if anything about what the major characters thought and felt. As a piece of social history it is a failure.