A BOOK REVIEW: The Betrayal of the NEGRO From Rutherford B. Hayes to Woodrow Wilson by

Dr. Rayford Logan

The Nadir describes a period of time in the history of a person or an organization that in looking back was a very lowpoint in how you might tell your story. When I would ask my students and associates what that word meant, most of them had never heard the term used.

In 1954, the year I was born, Rayford Logan wrote a seminal book about how things unraveled in the lives and thoughts of the Negro. This was seen in how they saw themselves and how they were looked at by the world and the immediate society around them. It was a well researched book that crossed interdisciplinary lines as a cautionary tale about how quickly things and expectations might change. Vigilance is the watchword that comes to mind. Who is minding the store? Who are your adversaries? Who are your friends?

While it is in no way arbitrary, Logan as a historian wisely chooses the critical years from 1877–1901 to shed light on the close of the 19th century as a seque to address other issues from another disciplinary framework. The new fields of sociology and anthropology would help to define what is unique about the formation of American culture.

What are the political, economic. and demographic climatic changes that would shift…