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Thyra J. Edwards: Black Activist in the Global Freedom Struggle. By Gregg Andrews. (Columbia and London: University of Missouri Press, c. 2011. Pp. [xii], 243. $40.00, ISBN 978-0-8262-1912-1.)
Gregg Andrews's recent biography is the first book-length study of Thyra J. Edwards. Born in 1897 in Jim Crow Houston, Texas, Edwards emerged in the mid-twentieth century as an activist for international labor, civil rights, women's rights, and peace. Over the course of her fifty-five years Edwards worked tirelessly as a social worker, labor organizer, freelance journalist, and educator in behalf of oppressed peoples in the United States and across the globe.
Andrews follows the chronology of Edwards's life, beginning in Houston, where she attended segregated schools and was inspired by stories of her grandparents' escape from slavery. From there, the author takes readers through Edwards's Great Migration journey to Gary, Indiana, and Chicago, where she launched her career in social work. The heart...