Alexander, Ann Field 1946–

PERSONAL: Born 1946.

ADDRESSES: Office—Mary Baldwin College, 108 North Jefferson St., Ste. 816, Roanoke, VA 24016. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer and educator. Mary Baldwin College, Roanoke, VA, professor of history, director of Roanoke Center, 1989–.

AWARDS, HONORS: Richard Slatten Award, 2002, for Race Man: The Rise and Fall of the "Fighting Editor," John Mitchell Jr.

WRITINGS:

Race Man: The Rise and Fall of the "Fighting Editor," John Mitchell Jr., University of Virginia Press (Charlottesville, VA), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: Ann Field Alexander teaches courses on Virginia, Appalachia, and African-Americans. In 2002 Alexander published Race Man: The Rise and Fall of the "Fighting Editor," John Mitchell Jr. The book is a biography of black newspaper editor John Mitchell, Jr. who was born in 1863 (two years before the end of the Civil War). Mitchell's parents were slaves who worked in the house of a Richmond attorney. After graduating from high school, he went to work as a teacher in 1881, but he lost his job three years later when the Richmond school board fired all black teachers. Mitchell then became editor of the new black-owned newspaper, the Richmond Planet a post he held until his death in 1929. Mitchell subsequently used his post as editor to speak against the injustices of racial discrimination.

Scholars in the field welcomed Alexander's book as a fine addition to the body of work exploring race relations after the Civil War. Stephen Messer, reviewing the book for History: Review of New Books, observed that "specialists and generalists interested in African American history, the history of Richmond, the history of journalism, or southern biography will find this work rewarding." In addition, Journalism History contributor Ron Bishop noted that the biography "brilliantly details the events that motivated Mitchell."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

New York Review of Books July 15, 2004, Caleb Crain, review of Race Man: The Rise and Fall of the "Fighting Editor," John Mitchell Jr., pp. 50-51.

Reference & Research Book News, May, 2003, review of Race Man, p. 58.

History: Review of New Books, spring, 2003, Stephen Messer, review of Race Man, p. 105.

Journalism History, fall, 2003, Ron Bishop, review of Race Man, p. 148.