E. FRANKLIN FRAZIER(1894-1962) was considered to be one of the most influential African-American sociologists of the twentieth century. HisThe Negro Church in America(published posthumously) was groundbreaking in its study of the changes in the black church after the Civil Rights Movement. He wrote nine books and over one hundred essays. C. ERIC LINCOLN(1924-2000) was an African-American scholar who taught all over the United States.His novel,The Avenue, Clayton City, won theLillian Smith Book Awardfor Best Southern Fiction in 1988 and the International Black Writers'Alice Browning Awardin 1989.He was an elected member of theFellowship of Southern Writers and foundingpresident of the Black Academy of Arts and Letters. He was friends with Rev. Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr.,Malcolm X, andAlex Haley.In 1990, he was cited by Pope John Paul II for ""scholarly service to the church.""
A brief but brilliant analysis of the historical origin and the present situation of a crucially important institution of the American Negro people. --Gunnar Myrdal What Dr. Frazier provides in his brief study is a penetrating insight into the whole psyche of the American Negro . . . a classic study in American ethnic history. --Negro Digest