Journey of Hope

“Drawing upon an impressive trove of primary and secondary materials. . . . Barnes demonstrates his skill and sensitivity as a thoughtful historian. . . . [A] substantive history. Meticulously researched and clearly written.” — History

“A welcome addition to scholarship in Arkansas, African American, and southern history. . . . Highly recommended.” — CHOICE

“This is a serious work of scholarship. Barnes should be commended for meticulously and analytically treating a painful but important aspect of Liberian-American relations.” — American Historical Review

“A captivating story.” — Arkansas Libraries

“In his well-researched and groundbreaking book, Kenneth C. Barnes illuminates the largely untold story of approximately six hundred African Americans from central Arkansas in the late 1880s who participated in the 'back to Africa' movement. . . . Barnes gives this complex and revealing story the scrutiny and attention it deserves.” — Journal of American History

“Using his considerable writing skills, Kenneth Barnes crafts a highly readable narrative that turns this story about a relatively small group of people into a fascinating account that speaks to many issues of the era — race relations in the South, the meanings of Reconstruction’s demise, the lives and hopes of African Americans, and felt connections to Africa. Above all, anyone interested in the lives of poor black men and women in the late nineteenth century will find this a compelling read.” — James H. Meriwether, author of Proudly We Can Be Africans: Black Americans and Africa, 1935–1961

“Journey of Hope is a poignant portrait of the overlooked back-to-Africa movement in the American South. More than just a searing indictment of late-nineteenth-century American racism, this book provides a deeply researched and sensitive account of the courage, naïveté, and desperation of those blacks who believed that they could only enjoy the fullness of freedom in Africa.” — W. Fitzhugh Brundage, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill