y him in the
nineteenth century. (3) To reflect the views of the most scholarly and
prominent Negroes of America on those topics, touching the Negro, that
are now engaging the attention of the civilized world. (4) To point
out, to the aspiring Negro youth, those men and women of their own
race who, by their scholarship, by their integrity of character, and
by their earnest efforts in the work of uplifting their own race, have
made themselves illustrious; also, to enlighten such youth on those
ethical, political, and sociological questions, touching the Negro
that will sooner or later engage their attention. (5) To enlighten the
Negroes on that perplexing problem, commonly called the "Race
Problem," that has necessarily grown out of their contact with their
ex-masters and their descendants; and also to stimulate them to make
greater efforts to ascend to that plane of civilization occupied by
the other enlightened peoples of the world.

Now, among all the books on the Negro, there is none whose object is
so worthy, comprehensive, and specific as that above set forth. In
this the superiority of this book to all others, on the Negro, may be
seen. And the superior value of this book is also apparent from the
following considerations: (1) This is the only book in which there is
such a magnificent array of Negro talent. Other Negro books of a
biographical character are objected to, by the intelligent people who
have read them, on the ground that they contain too few sketches of
scholarly Negroes, and too many of Negroes of ordinary ability. But
such a criticism cannot be made on this book since, as a matter of
fact, all of the one hundred men and women, appearing in it, are among
the best educated Negroes in the world. (2) This is the only book from
which one can get anything like a definite and correct idea of the
progress made by the Negro since his Emancipation along all lines. (3)
There is no book but this one in which there can be found expressed
the thoughts of any considerable number of educated Negroes on so many
political, religious, civil, moral and sociological problems touching
the Negro, which are interesting alike to the politician, the moralist
and the sociologist.

But it is not to be understood that the one hundred men and women
mentioned in this book are the only Negro scholars in this country. So
far from this, there are hundreds of other Negroes who are as
scholarly, as prominent and as active in the work