" . . . the definitive history not only of the Chicago National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) but of the city's black middle class as well." —Journal of American History

" . . . a candid portrait of the Chicago branch of the NAACP, one of the association's most important chapters. . . . It also offers a revealing window onto a half-century of race relations in Chicago." —Chicago Tribune

Evolving through six decades of white resistance, black indifference and internal group struggle, the Chicago NAACP was affected both adversely and positively by two world wars, national depression, the Cold War conflict and growing class differentiation among African Americans.