Charles N. Hunter, one of North Carolina's outstanding black reformers, was born a slave in Raleigh around 1851, and he lived there until his death in 1931. As public school teacher, journalist, and historian, Hunter devoted his long life to improving opportunities for blacks.

A political activist, but never a radical, he skillfully used his journalistic abilities and his personal contacts with whites to publicize the problems and progress of his race. He urged blacks to ally themselves with the best of the white leaders, and he constantly reminded whites that their treatment of his...

Lawrence Kessler uses the Jiangyin mission station in the Shanghai region of China to explore Chinese-American cultural interaction in the first half of the twentieth century. He concludes that the Protestant missionary movement was welcomed by the Chinese not because of the religious message it spread but because of the secular benefits it provided.

Like other missions, the Jiangyin Station, which was sponsored by the First Presbyterian Church of Wilmington, North Carolina, combined evangelism with social welfare programs and enjoyed a respected position within the local community....

This study treats the intellectual and political history of the various democratic movements in the major German states during the nineteenth century. Snell describes the origins of the democratic impulse, traces the gradual alienation of German democracy from German liberalism, and concludes with an extensive analysis of political and social institutions of the German empire as promoters or deterrents of democracy. This book is the first to focus on the history of ideas and politics during this period.

Originally published in 1976.

A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press...

Robert Rice Reynolds (1884-1963), U.S. senator from North Carolina from 1933 to 1945, was one of the most eccentric politicians in American history. His travels, his five marriages, his public faux pas, and his flamboyant campaigns provided years of amusement for his constituents. This political biography rescues Reynolds from his cartoon-character reputation, however, by explaining his political appeal and highlighting his genuine contributions without overlooking his flaws.

Julian Pleasants argues that Reynolds must be understood in the context of Depression-era North Carolina. He...