From Slave to State Legislator

As the first African American elected to the Illinois general assembly, John W. E. Thomas was the recognised leader of the state's African American community for nearly twenty years and laid the groundwork for the success of future black leaders in Chicago politics. This fascinating full-length biography—the first to address the full influence of Thomas or any black politician from Illinois during the Reconstruction Era—is also a pioneering effort to explain the dynamics of African American politics and divisions within the black community in post-Civil War Chicago.