author
G. F. Richings
A little-known writer and lecturer from the late 19th century, he set out to document Black achievement in education, business, and public life at a time when such stories were often ignored. His work offers a revealing snapshot of how race progress was being presented to American audiences after emancipation.
1 Audiobook
Evidences of Progress Among Colored People
by G. F. Richings
About the author
Born in 1852, George F. Richings was an American author and lecturer who became known for collecting and presenting accounts of African American accomplishment. He is best remembered for works that highlighted Black schools, educators, and professionals, including Evidences of Progress Among Colored People and An Album of Negro Educators.
Richings described his lectures as focused on "race progress," and his books gathered portraits, short profiles, and examples meant to challenge the racist assumptions of his era. That makes his work valuable today not only for the information it preserves, but also for the way it reflects efforts to document Black success in the decades after the Civil War.
He died in 1915. Though he is not widely known now, his books remain useful to readers interested in African American history, education, and the print culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.