The Unknown Architects of Civil Rights: Thaddeus Stevens, Ulysses S. Grant, and Charles Sumner

Winner of the prestigious Carey McWilliams Prize for best Undergraduate Honors History Thesis at the University of California-Los Angeles, The Unknown Architects of Civil Rights is a provocative book that re-examines three of the most influential and notable—but largely forgotten—civil rights advocates in American history.

As civil rights history continues to hold a prominent place in American society, it is only through the courageous actions of Thaddeus Stevens, Ulysses S. Grant, and Charles Sumner that some of America’s most prized civil rights gains are emblazoned in our Constitution. Without these powerful and then-famous politicians, the 1960s Civil Rights Movement may not have unfolded the way that it did without the groundbreaking first legislative steps taken almost a century before.

During the Reconstruction Era when racism and prejudice was at its height, Stevens, Grant, and Sumner valiantly fought for African American equality only years following the evil institution of slavery. The Unknown Architects of Civil Rights brings to life the personalities, the struggles, and the legacies of three men who strove towards America’s claim of “liberty and justice for all” during this unprecedented time in our nation’s history.

“The Unknown Architects of Civil Rights is a model of excellent research, astute analysis, and engaging discourse.... [Goldenberg] succeeds in both differentiating and connecting the efforts of these men to keep America on its uncertain course towards democracy.” —UCLA Department of History

Barry M. Goldenberg is a Ph.D. candidate in the History and Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Barry serves as a Graduate Research Fellow at the Institute for Urban and Minority Education (IUME) where he previously led the Youth Historians in Harlem program—an after-school program for high school students that sought to explore the implications of collaborative history-making with young people. His current research explores the history of Harlem Prep, an independent community school in Central Harlem from 1967 to 1974 that effectively served former “dropout” students. Barry has been published in academic outlets such as Urban Education, Voices from the Middle, The Social Studies, and Education’s Histories, is the author of The Unknown Architects of Civil Rights (Critical Minds Press) and Generations of Giving: The History of the Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation (Teachers College Press), and has been featured in outlets such as the Harlem World Radio Show. Barry holds a B.A. in History (highest departmental honors), magna cum laude, from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). For more information, visit his personal website at barrygoldenberg.com.