The product of those studies was the first great empirical book on the Negro in American society.More than one hundred years after its original publication by the University of Pennsylvania Press, The Philadelphia Negro remains a classic work. It is the first, and perhaps still the finest, example of engaged sociological scholarship--the kind of work that, in contemplating social reality, helps to change it.In his introduction, Elijah Anderson examines how the neighborhood studied by Du Bois has changed over the years and compares the status of blacks today with their status when the book was initially published.

    Chesnutt writes of the black search for identity in the period between the Civil War and the turn of the century

    This digital edition was derived from ACLS Humanities E-Book's (http://www.humanitiesebook.org) online version of the same title.