created by EdHistory101 on 16/05/2024 at 12:26 UTC
15 upvotes, 4 top-level comments (showing 4)
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 227 is live!
In this episode, Jenn Binis (EdHistory101) talks with with u/LostHistoryBooks about lost - and found - American history texts. They discuss the history of Black education, Black history, American history, and more! 45 mins.
LostHistoryBooks' website[1]. In the conversation, she recommended Joseph Moreau's *Schoolbook Nation: Conflicts over American History Textbooks from the Civil War to the Present[2]* and Robert Morris' *Reading, ’Riting, and Reconstruction: The Education of Freedmen in the South, 1861-1870[3].*
1: https://losthistorybooks.com/
2: https://press.umich.edu/Books/S/Schoolbook-Nation2
3: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/R/bo5953689.html
She is currently searching for:
The books by Anne Maria Mitchell that she mentioned:
The AskHistorians Podcast[8] is a project that highlights the users and answers that have helped make r/AskHistorians one of the largest history discussion forums on the internet. You can subscribe to us via Apple Podcasts[9], Stitcher[10], or RSS[11], and now on YouTube[12] and Google Play[13]. If there is another index you’d like the podcast listed on, let us know!
4: https://archive.org/details/MarthasGift
5: https://archive.org/details/freedboyinalabam00mitc
6: https://archive.org/details/golden-primer-image
7: https://archive.org/details/golden-first-reader
8: https://askhistorians.libsyn.com/
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Comment by losthistorybooks at 16/05/2024 at 16:00 UTC
4 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Hey folks! Thank you for checking out my episode. Please let me know if you have any follow up questions or leads for me.
Comment by CalMaddieDog at 18/05/2024 at 23:03 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Fabulous work and a wonderful contribution to our history!
Comment by JNinWeHo at 04/09/2024 at 16:29 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I greatly appreciate this research.
You mentioned that there are no known copies of The Freedman’s Primer (American Tract Society, Boston, 1864).
I have the original version of the 1864 printing in my library.
James N. Birkitt, Jr.
JNinWeHo
Comment by JNinWeHo at 05/09/2024 at 01:06 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Greetings!
Yes, I'll be glad to take pics for you - and will send them no later than tomorrow.
You are absolutely correct that "The Lincoln Primer" appears to be a reprint of the version in my possession - "The Freedman's Primer" (1864).
I was able to view 3 pages of "The Lincoln Primer" on the Houghton Library site - the layout, font styles, illustrations, and pagination are identical in both books. The only changes I identified: 1) the book titles on the covers and 2) the book titles on the title pages.
Regrettably, I know nothing of the book's early provenance. There are no names, handwriting, markings, or labels of any kind inside the book.
Of the book's more recent history:
In the mid- and late 60s, my father - Rev. Dr. James N. Birkitt, Sr. (https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/ashland-va/james-birkitt-6994987[1]) - had a Saturday morning hobby of attending estate sales at farms and rural properties in Caroline County, Virginia, (30 miles north of Richmond). At one such farm sale, he bought a "mystery box" of old books, and "The Freedman's Primer" was included in the box. The book sat on his library shelves for 50 years - first in Ashland, VA (Hanover County), and later in Glen Allen, VA (Henrico County).
1: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/ashland-va/james-birkitt-6994987
In late 2015, he donated his 10,000 volume library to a seminary in Texas - while doing so, he asked me to select 100 books for my own library - The "Freedman's Primer" was one of the books I selected. My Dad passed the following year, 2016.
So that's a bit of the book's more recent history...
Again, I'll be glad to take some pics of the book, and will forward them to you tomorrow (Thurs.).
All the best,
Jim Birkitt Virginia
P.S. Not sure if I mentioned this previously: The cover of the book is in very rough shape. All of the front text is legible, but the cover has significant scruffs and gouges. And while there is foxing throughout the book, all of the inside text is clear and completely readable, and there are no detached or missing pages.