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Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights
The familiar story of civil rights goes something like this: Once, the American legal system was dominated by racist officials who shut Black people out and refused to recognize their basic human dignity. Then, starting in the 1940s, a few brave lawyers ventured south, bent on changing the law—and soon, everyday African Americans joined with them to launch the Civil Rights Movement. In Before the Movement, historian Dylan C. Penningroth overturns this story, demonstrating that Black people had long exercised “the rights of everyday use,” and that this lesser-known private-law tradition paved the way for the modern vision of civil rights. Well-versed in the law, Black people had used it to their advantage for nearly a century to shape how they worked, worshiped, learned, and loved. Based on long-forgotten sources found in the basements of county courthouses, Before the Movement recovers a vision of Black life allied with, yet distinct from, “the freedom struggle.”
496 pages, Paperback
First published September 26, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
September 17, 2023
There is so much to unpack in this book and it really gives you a new perspective on black history and law. To think, black people were using the law before they were even recognized by it!
What I loved most about this book is how the author broke down the referenced cases into personal narratives, giving us insight into what exactly was happening and why.
When you get a chance spend some time with this book. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
What I loved most about this book is how the author broke down the referenced cases into personal narratives, giving us insight into what exactly was happening and why.
When you get a chance spend some time with this book. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
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July 9, 2025
I learned a TON about law and how Black people applied it to their advantage prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (and even before a lot of the groundbreaking Supreme Court cases that are Civil Rights victories).
This is more about the lower levels of law: property and torts, marriage and divorce, and other small acts. How Black people navigated an unjust and racially violent world, becoming more familiar with the law and how it was applied to them in their states moreso than the majority of white people living beside them. And also, the radical nature of using the law to establish and protect themselves, even when it often failed them.
Anywho, a fascinating book that sets the stage for the Civil Rights movement.
It's not just about legal stuff, but that is a majority of it.
This is more about the lower levels of law: property and torts, marriage and divorce, and other small acts. How Black people navigated an unjust and racially violent world, becoming more familiar with the law and how it was applied to them in their states moreso than the majority of white people living beside them. And also, the radical nature of using the law to establish and protect themselves, even when it often failed them.
Anywho, a fascinating book that sets the stage for the Civil Rights movement.
It's not just about legal stuff, but that is a majority of it.
October 29, 2024
Born from 20 years of rigorous research across the US, Dylan C. Penningroth puts forth a simple, yet groundbreaking claim: that prior to the 1950s, Black Americans led vibrant and important legal lives.
From charting the historic beginnings of slavery, to Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the changing times, Penningroth diligently uncovers the hidden story behind the civil rights movement.
Impactful and engaging, Penningroth's work will be of huge importance for years to come as this places the focus of Black people, not as the marginalised victims of white oppression, but as beautiful, sparks of life on their own terms, shifting the central interest of their history, which I feel adds to movements such as the Black Lives Matter movement.
From charting the historic beginnings of slavery, to Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the changing times, Penningroth diligently uncovers the hidden story behind the civil rights movement.
Impactful and engaging, Penningroth's work will be of huge importance for years to come as this places the focus of Black people, not as the marginalised victims of white oppression, but as beautiful, sparks of life on their own terms, shifting the central interest of their history, which I feel adds to movements such as the Black Lives Matter movement.
September 27, 2023
Dylan Penningroth's Before the Movement: the Hidden History of Black Civil Rights traces the legal lives of African Americans from the 1830s to the Civil Rights era concluding with implications for today's understanding. It shows the antecedent daily life of local people that shaped the popular movement. Penningroth drives the narrative through extensive analyses of primary sources focused on both the experience of his own family (photos, films or letters) and extensively researched legal records (deed books, marriage licenses, or court proceedings) from four states and Washington D.C. These are further extending by newspapers, sermons, or other relevant organizational or personal records.
The book is arranged chronologically, with its four parts divided by key historic events that show the changing legal understandings or acceptance for the given time period. The main foci are ideas about family, the church, property and contract. Part I: Slavery explores enslaved individuals rights or acceptance of property ownership. Part II: Reconstruction centers on the shift from slavery to freedom through the legal creation of civil rights, detailing what freedom meant. Part III: the Jim Crow Era looks at the establishment of separate societies strengthened through the growing value of incorporation to supply safety nets otherwise lacking. Part IV: The Movement Era shows how the strategies and legal groundwork laid in the other sections comes together to help fuel and maintain the Civil Rights Movement, why else would African Americans struggle and engage within the system instead of leaving or forming their own? There was the possibility of change.
This is an extensively researched and detailed exploration of the legal progress of African Americans that is looking beyond the freedom struggle. It explores the day to day realities that answer how people lived, earned the money to pay for their food and made plans for old age. Penningroth is also clear on the language, the assumption in this text, is that someone is Black unless it is otherwise noted, as a clear demonstration of how whiteness is often the assumed default. He also notes the language change between enslavement and slavery and slaver, but Penningroth follows Tiya Miles's understanding of the terms, changing them to match the perspective of the person described or better represent the historic setting. (A Note on Terminology).
As with many other contemporary works of history that make use of the word 'hidden' in the title, Before the Movement is more focused on neglected, forgotten or less well know events. However a key point of the narrative is that much of the history has been deliberately hidden. One of the points of evidence is the usage of specific legal cases in law school casebooks that involved African American litigants but are presented with no details of their racial identity.
An excellent exploration of the archival record, both personal and legalistically that adds to our understanding of the Civil Rights Movement as a peak on the long road of Black self determination.
I received a free digital version of this eBook via NetGalley thanks to the publisher.
The book is arranged chronologically, with its four parts divided by key historic events that show the changing legal understandings or acceptance for the given time period. The main foci are ideas about family, the church, property and contract. Part I: Slavery explores enslaved individuals rights or acceptance of property ownership. Part II: Reconstruction centers on the shift from slavery to freedom through the legal creation of civil rights, detailing what freedom meant. Part III: the Jim Crow Era looks at the establishment of separate societies strengthened through the growing value of incorporation to supply safety nets otherwise lacking. Part IV: The Movement Era shows how the strategies and legal groundwork laid in the other sections comes together to help fuel and maintain the Civil Rights Movement, why else would African Americans struggle and engage within the system instead of leaving or forming their own? There was the possibility of change.
This is an extensively researched and detailed exploration of the legal progress of African Americans that is looking beyond the freedom struggle. It explores the day to day realities that answer how people lived, earned the money to pay for their food and made plans for old age. Penningroth is also clear on the language, the assumption in this text, is that someone is Black unless it is otherwise noted, as a clear demonstration of how whiteness is often the assumed default. He also notes the language change between enslavement and slavery and slaver, but Penningroth follows Tiya Miles's understanding of the terms, changing them to match the perspective of the person described or better represent the historic setting. (A Note on Terminology).
As with many other contemporary works of history that make use of the word 'hidden' in the title, Before the Movement is more focused on neglected, forgotten or less well know events. However a key point of the narrative is that much of the history has been deliberately hidden. One of the points of evidence is the usage of specific legal cases in law school casebooks that involved African American litigants but are presented with no details of their racial identity.
An excellent exploration of the archival record, both personal and legalistically that adds to our understanding of the Civil Rights Movement as a peak on the long road of Black self determination.
I received a free digital version of this eBook via NetGalley thanks to the publisher.
April 28, 2025
Please note, I won an advance reader copy from GoodReads giveaways.
This is a fascinating, if dense, look at how Black people were able to navigate a legal system that was designed against them. It shows how the foundation was built to support the changes of the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. So much is tied to property and corporation laws that I wasn’t expecting.
I gave this book 5 stars due to how Penningroth presented his arguments to support the book’s thesis. There’s a lot of information in this book, unfortunately it doesn’t seem like the current political climate in the US would be willing to embrace the observations and conclusions drawn.
This is a fascinating, if dense, look at how Black people were able to navigate a legal system that was designed against them. It shows how the foundation was built to support the changes of the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. So much is tied to property and corporation laws that I wasn’t expecting.
I gave this book 5 stars due to how Penningroth presented his arguments to support the book’s thesis. There’s a lot of information in this book, unfortunately it doesn’t seem like the current political climate in the US would be willing to embrace the observations and conclusions drawn.
November 26, 2024
My mind is still reeling from the incredible, lovingly detailed research that went into this book. It is a very dense but also rich explanation of the numerous legal actions and relationships that created the conditions for the civil rights movement to emerge. One has the sense of top soil building over many generations. But it is also such a humanizing story about the many ways that Black Americans have used law and the legal system to improve their lives, create autonomous organizations, pass on land and other assets and so much more.
January 21, 2025
This was fascinating & written in such a digestible, engaging way! Penningroth illustrates that civil rights are much more nuanced than segregation/integration & shows how Black people engaged with/used the law even during the height of Jim Crow, etc.
April 24, 2025
This book was really not what I expected. It is an exploration of the legal basis for slavery and racism, and how African Americans used the law against white supremacy to advance their goals. Interesting.
October 25, 2024
I am not a lawyer, but I found this book fascinating. Conventional histories of civil rights tend to focus (not unfairly!) on the myriad ways in which black people were excluded from/victimized by laws (their writing, enforcement, standards for adjudication). Penningroth has done some truly impressive bureaucratic archaeological research to demonstrate the ways in which black people have been present, informed, and advocating for themselves since the 1830s. To be clear: he is not claiming that the victimization didn't happen, or that there's any kind of false equality between black and white folks after all. Rather, his focus is more subtle and much more interesting: since before the Civil War, many state courts recognized at least some black people's claims to property or contracts, in part because they *needed* to so that white folks' successive property/contract claims could be honored. Penningroth draws many conclusions from this, but one of his important ones, to me, is that when we *only* center folks of color in law when we are talking about civil rights law, we give a false history of the breadth of law as a tool (to be used and misused). He's a clear and evocative writer, and opens every chapter with a pretty vivid example around which the ideas of the chapter revolve (particularly helpful for non-lawyer readers like me).
January 11, 2024
Very (very) much in the book we have “Once you start looking you realize that the history of Black civil rights is all around us.” (xv) That’s the theme of the book. And in the first pages, there’s material about Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. And much of the book goes up to 1950. And, chapter starts with a statement of rethinking our understanding of slavery.
On chapter 3, we have “Does Color Still Matter?” And there’s “Slaves had property and contract into abstractions, stippled of the sociality…” (p. 38) Then there’s pages about the “bad guys” (70+) and the Republicans (88+)
There are many pages about the “Black” Church in Chapter 6 and there are some pages about the problems of finding women who had high levels in the churches. And there’s some info about the use of the word “Jim Crow.”
One of the most interesting pieces of how Black people found their own “property” after the end of the Civil War. And of course there’s Rosa Parks.
This book might not do the rules of some of the books. But it’s a good read. It tells you more than your high school/college books.
On chapter 3, we have “Does Color Still Matter?” And there’s “Slaves had property and contract into abstractions, stippled of the sociality…” (p. 38) Then there’s pages about the “bad guys” (70+) and the Republicans (88+)
There are many pages about the “Black” Church in Chapter 6 and there are some pages about the problems of finding women who had high levels in the churches. And there’s some info about the use of the word “Jim Crow.”
One of the most interesting pieces of how Black people found their own “property” after the end of the Civil War. And of course there’s Rosa Parks.
This book might not do the rules of some of the books. But it’s a good read. It tells you more than your high school/college books.
September 1, 2024
What was most interesting to me about Dylan Penningroth's book was how broad a view of civil rights he took. While "civil rights" as a term has come to be constrained to the right to vote and the right to not be explicitly segregated against in places of public accommodation. While those are (obviously) really significant, they rest on some more basic rights, particularly around property and contract law - who has the right to inherit or purchase property, who has the right to marry, to form associations.
This breadth is necessarily dependent on Penningroth's vast research. Almost all of the characters in his story were new to me, and are largely unknown, but played an important role in shaping how Americans understand the law. Penningroth's writing is clear and persuasive and made this book very accessible.
This breadth is necessarily dependent on Penningroth's vast research. Almost all of the characters in his story were new to me, and are largely unknown, but played an important role in shaping how Americans understand the law. Penningroth's writing is clear and persuasive and made this book very accessible.
June 16, 2025
A vital read to understand modern U.S. history better
A well-researched treatise with connections throughout US history since Reconstruction to the present, this book provides great insights into the struggles that helped lead to and continued throughout the formation of The Movement. Mr. Penningroth weaves the tapestry of history of the struggle for Black civil rights in a way that makes it far more meaningful while highlighting the way opportunists have picked and chosen when to involve race and when to omit it from public record.
A fascinating read which should be required reading for anyone getting into law. Only by fully knowing our history can we hope to avoid repeating injustices of our past.
A well-researched treatise with connections throughout US history since Reconstruction to the present, this book provides great insights into the struggles that helped lead to and continued throughout the formation of The Movement. Mr. Penningroth weaves the tapestry of history of the struggle for Black civil rights in a way that makes it far more meaningful while highlighting the way opportunists have picked and chosen when to involve race and when to omit it from public record.
A fascinating read which should be required reading for anyone getting into law. Only by fully knowing our history can we hope to avoid repeating injustices of our past.
Want to read
September 27, 2023I want to thank Goodreads and Dylan Penningroth for a copy of Before the Movement:The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights for an honest review.
I have to sadly admit that I did not get a chance to finish this book. I always have a book with me at work. I have never had anyone take a book from me before. I was hoping that it would reappear. Unfortunately, after being missing for 4 weeks, I doubt that I will be getting it back. I had only read half of the first chapter before the book disappeared. Therefore, I cannot leave a honest review. However, it must have been good because in the 8 years I have worked at this place, this was the first book to ever disappear.
I have to sadly admit that I did not get a chance to finish this book. I always have a book with me at work. I have never had anyone take a book from me before. I was hoping that it would reappear. Unfortunately, after being missing for 4 weeks, I doubt that I will be getting it back. I had only read half of the first chapter before the book disappeared. Therefore, I cannot leave a honest review. However, it must have been good because in the 8 years I have worked at this place, this was the first book to ever disappear.
December 17, 2025
Often, history reorients our thinking to consider truths before gone unseen. What I love about this book is how the author takes on a journey of "who" black Americans were in the "privacy" of their respective lives before the public demand for civil rights. We had civil rights prior to the coordinated movement. We were farmers (approximately 218,000 strong), business owners, homeowners, and the like who wanted to create "space" to thrive as citizens should in a democracy. A great read and re-introduction to the wealth inherent within Black America.
September 10, 2023
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway!!
This book is very factual giving details, dates and events from 1829 to 1964 about black legal rights in America. I learned a lot about what rights blacks had in the south before and after the civil war. If you are looking for this history - this book is a must read.
I look forward to putting this book out in our Little Free Library for others in our community to read and learn from.
This book is very factual giving details, dates and events from 1829 to 1964 about black legal rights in America. I learned a lot about what rights blacks had in the south before and after the civil war. If you are looking for this history - this book is a must read.
I look forward to putting this book out in our Little Free Library for others in our community to read and learn from.
September 8, 2023
'Beyond the Movement' surveys often ignored aspects of African American engagements with the law from the end of slavery until the movement as well as ongoing implications. In looking at the everyday legal struggles of Black Americans offers illumination and clarity to the complexities of Black life in America.
My copy was a gift through Goodreads First Reads.
My copy was a gift through Goodreads First Reads.
November 4, 2025
Incredible!! This was a truly awe inspiring amount of research, told absolutely beautifully in a way that illuminated people's lives! I would consider this a standard of legal history, and would recommend it to others. Each individual section is super important for that time period, while still telling a larger story that remains relavent.
April 28, 2024
This book is beautifully and technically researched, however, I got a bit bogged down by all the details. I think I would’ve appreciated it more if I had had a law degree or degree in civil rights. Still a very good book with unique inside into civil rights.
January 6, 2025
A engrossing read that reframes black history, documenting how people of color used civil law before the civil rights era. I am not sure that I agree with all of the author's conclusions, but I certainly will be thinking about this well-researched work for some time.
October 10, 2024
excellent book by Dean Penningroth!
November 27, 2024
Fantastic. This really changed my perspective on Black legal history, especially the Jim Crow era.
January 11, 2025
4-1/2 ⭐️ book! Fascinating Black history that I did not know about legal survival methods/tactics during Reconstruction and during Jim Crow period! Very detailed and well documented!
January 20, 2025
Controversial, in a way, but appreciated the novel theories.
March 1, 2025
Kind of 3.75 rounded up. Well-researched with interesting ideas, but a bit repetitive.
March 22, 2025
Great book. Absolutely a must read for every law student, attorney or any career alike.
April 10, 2025
Eye opening; one of the best examples for why archival projects are so important for everything!!!
June 10, 2025
What an excellent education in contract and real property law. An excellent example and explanation of how civil rights existed long before the civil rights movement! Wonderful wonderful read!
June 3, 2025
A strongly and convincingly argued history of the manner in which Black folks engaged with, and navigated, the law from time time of slavery until the eve of the Civil Rights movement. This is a dense read with a lot of law theory, but is well written and readable for being an academic history. The author uses several anecdotes and specific cases in each chapter to tell a narrative that connects each chapter and idea. There's even some family biography woven through the book.
The basic thesis is that Black folks in the United States took much more active, thoughtful, and deliberate interactions with the legal system than is commonly understood in both popular memory of the Civil Rights Struggle as well as in academic histories.
The basic thesis is that Black folks in the United States took much more active, thoughtful, and deliberate interactions with the legal system than is commonly understood in both popular memory of the Civil Rights Struggle as well as in academic histories.
October 5, 2024
Amazing research. And readable.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews