In the aftermath of the Civil War, approximately 500 African Americans left the Chattahoochee Valley of north Georgia and Alabama to make new lives in the West African Republic of Liberia. Though some returned to the United States after the hardships they faced trying to settle a new land, many stayed and some even prospered.
Historical records about the emigrants’ experiences are limited, but historian Matthew McDaniel has managed to piece together new insights into their experiences, using demographic data from the American Colonization Society (ACS), emigrant correspondence from the ACS journal, and also correspondence printed in local newspapers at that time. The result is a greater picture of these emigrants than has been offered before.
In a feature in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, genealogist Kenneth Thomas calls McDaniel’s book, Emigration to Liberia, From the Chattahoochee Valley of Georgia and Alabama, 1853-1903, a “fascinating story … well worth reading.”
Thomas also praises the book’s appendix, which lists the names of almost all the emigrants to Liberia. “This list could help clarify what happened to someone’s lost relatives,” Thomas notes, making Emigration to Liberia a key title both for historians and those interested in African American genealogy.
Read “Book looks at emigration to Liberia” at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution website.
Emigration to Liberia by Matthew McDaniel is available in paperback and ebook from NewSouth Books, Amazon, or your favorite bookstore.