In the period between the Civil War and the Great Depression, Louisville, Kentucky was host to what George C. Wright calls "a polite form of racism." There were no lynchings or race riots, and to a great extent, Louisville blacks escaped the harsh violence that was a fact of life for blacks in the Deep South. Furthermore, black Louisvillians consistently enjoyed and exercised an oft-contested but never effectively retracted enfranchisement. However, their votes usually did not amount to any real political leverage, and there were no radical improvements in civil rights during this period. Instead, there existed a delicate balance between relative privilege and enforced passivity.A substantial paternalism carried over from antebellum days in Louisville, and many leading white citizens lent support to a limited uplifting of blacks in society. They helped blacks establish their own schools, hospitals, and other institutions. But the dual purpose that such actions served, providing assistance while making the maintenance of strict segregation easier, was not incidental. Whites salved their consequences without really threatening an established order. And blacks, obliged to be grateful for the assistance, generally refrained from arguing for real social and political equality for fear of jeopardizing a partially improved situation and regressing to a status similar to that of other southern blacks.In Life Behind a Veil: Blacks in Louisville, Kentucky, 1865 - 1930, George Wright looks at the particulars of this form of racism. He also looks at the ways in which blacks made the most of their less than ideal position, focusing on the institutions that were central to their lives. Blacks in Louisville boasted the first library for blacks in the United States, as well as black-owned banks, hospitals, churches, settlement houses, and social clubs. These supported and reinforced a sense of community, self-esteem, and pride that was often undermined by the white world.Life Behind a Veil is a comprehensive account of race relations, black response to white discrimination, and the black community behind the walls of segregation in this border town. The title echoes Blyden Jackson's recollection of his childhood in Louisville, where blacks were always aware that there were two very distinct Louisvilles, one of which they were excluded from.

An unprecedented, sympathetic, and wide-ranging exploration of the mysterious world of Islamic women--the people behind the veils--is presented by female writers and Christian workers.

Muslim-American women, in all their diversity, are given the chance to tell their stories in their own voice by award-winning journalist Donna Gehrke-White. The only book of its kind, it tells in extraordinarily moving detail the lives of New Traditionalists, who wear the veil though their forebears did not; Blenders, who do not wear the veil but consider themselves spiritual; and Converts - women from other religious backgrounds who have converted to Islam. A rare, revealing look into the hearts, minds and lives of a misunderstood people.

The Life Beyond the Veil contains a series of communications from various personalities "on the other side," received and written down by the Rev. G. Vale Owen, Vicar of Orford, Lancashire, England. It was first published as four separate books: The Lowlands of Heaven (1920), The Highlands of Heaven (1920), The Ministry of Heaven (1921), and The Battalions of Heaven (1921). This volume combines all four works, and includes revised and standardized introductory pages. As described by Editor H. W. Engholm in his introduction to Book I, The Life Beyond the Veil brings us "face to face with a Spiritual Universe of unimaginable immensity and grandeur, with sphere upon sphere of the realms of light which stretch away into infinity. We are told that those who have passed from our earth life inhabit the nearer spheres, amid surroundings not wholly dissimilar from those they have known in this world; that at death we shall enter the sphere for which our spiritual development fits us. There is to be no sudden change in our personality. We shall not be plunged into forgetfulness. A human being is not transformed into another being. . . . So small a thing is the change which we call death . . . that many do not realize it. They have to be taught that they are in another world, the world of reunion. . . ." Books II, III and IV cover a wider range than the first book, more fully explaining the afterlife and giving, in H.W.E.'s words, "a little more of those 'many things' designed to broaden our vision, strengthen our faith, and help us to realize more fully the wonderful things which God has in store for all those that love Him." * * * "Is it subversive of old beliefs? A thousand times No. It broadens them, it defines them, it beautifies them, it fills in the empty voids which have bewildered us . . . it is infinitely reassuring and illuminating."-Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

What was Martin Luther King Jr. really like? In this groundbreaking volume, Lewis V. Baldwin answers this question by focusing on the man himself. Drawing on the testimonies of friends, family, and closest associates, this volume adds much-needed biographical background to the discussion, as Baldwin looks beyond all of the mythic, messianic, and iconic images to treat King in terms of his fundamental and vivid humanness. Special attention is devoted to King’s personal insecurities and struggles, his humility and affinity to common people, his delight in pleasant and passionate conversation, his insatiable love for the precious but ordinary things of life, his robust appetite for artfully-prepared and delicious soul food, his enduring appreciation for music and dance, his cheerful and playful attitude and spirit, his abiding interest in games and sports, and his amazing gift of wit, humor, and laughter. King emerges here as an ordinary human being who enjoyed and celebrated life to the fullest, but was never bigger than life. Here we see the personal qualities of King—as a real, fleshly human being—and also as a man shaped by his social and cultural experiences and locations. This book reclaims the man behind the mythology.