William Dorsey's Philadelphia and Ours: On the past and Future of the Black City in America

In the crucial decades after the Civil War, Philadelphia was the archetypical city for African-Americans. Not only did it have the largest African-American population in actual numbers, but it was also the preferred destination in the North for blacks migrating from the South after the Civil War. A host of national and even international institutions, churches, lodges and newspapers tied the black leadership together--especially the Grand and United Order of Odd Fellows and the African Methodist Episcopalian Church.