Description
Inscribed to John Hope II, the son of the first Black President of Morehouse College, the first edition of The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters by Brailsford R. Brazeal.
Octavo, xiv, 258pp. Navy blue cloth, title in gilt on spine. Lacking “First Edition” statement on copyright page, indicating a later printing. Solid text block, light sunning to edges, faint dust remnants to top edge, a near fine example. In the publisher’s dust jacket, $3.00 retail price on front flap, loss to bottom edge of spine, some chipping to corners. Some soiling to panels, yellow cover remains bright.
Inscribed on the front free endpaper: “4/30/79 / For my good friend John Hope II whose friendship and backing I have cherished over the years since (and including) our Morehouse days. / B.R. Brazeal (“Bra”).”
Brailsford Reese Brazeal (1903-1981) was a prolific economist, receiving his undergraduate from Morehouse College in 1927 and completing a master’s degree in economics from Columbia in 1928. Upon graduation, Brazeal was hired as an economics instructor by Dr. John Hope, Morehouse College’s first Black president. Hope’s son, John Hope II, was a sophomore at Morehouse College when Brazeal joined the faculty in 1928. The Hope family remained close with Brazeal as his career developed, as Dr. Hope remained President of Morehouse until his passing in 1936, and Brazeal retired from the college in 1972 as Dean of Academics. Both men were fervent supporters of civil rights in various capacities; Hope was a founding member of both the Niagara Movement and the NAACP. The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was based on Brazeal’s doctoral dissertation research on the efforts of train-car porters to form America’s first Black labor union. It is an essential reference for labor history, economic history, and race relation studies even today.
