African Americans of Des Moines and Polk County

Although African American pioneers arrived in Des Moines, Iowa, in the early 1860s, the population exploded in the 1880s due to the surrounding coal mines. In the 1860s, the Burns Methodist Episcopal Church was the first African American church built in Des Moines, and its only address was "East Side of the River." From 1900 to the 1960s, African Americans across the United States called Center Street "the coolest place in the country." The likes of Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and many others graced the hotels and clubs there. In Des Moines in the late 1960s and early 1970s, young African Americans discarded the term Negro and demanded to be referred to as Afro-American or black, as black pride swelled in their chests.

Author: Honesty Parker
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Library Editions
Published: 09/26/2011
Pages: 130
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.91lbs
Size: 9.61h x 6.69w x 0.38d
ISBN13: 9781531655112
ISBN10: 1531655114
BISAC Categories:
- History | United States | State & Local | Midwest(IA,IL,IN,KS,MI,MN,MO
- Social Science | Ethnic Studies | American | African American & Black Studies
- Biography & Autobiography | General

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