McQueen s research shows how these churches nonetheless became thriving centers of religion, independent civic and social life, and freedom. McQueen provides for each congregation the year it was organized, the county and town where it is located, an address or directions for finding it, and any other history available. All of this is based on information McQueen gathered from interviews, church bulletins, special church programs, historical markers, and building cornerstones. The catalog is enhanced by photographs of sixty-four of the churches surveyed, and an introduction by William E. Montgomery places McQueen s work in broader historical perspective. Historians will find this first documented treatment of the formation of black churches in Texas an indispensable contribution to a little-known but important field of Texas and African American history.
All readers can use the guide to visit places of historic interest around the state.
Since 1984, he has spent much of his time traveling and gathering information for this study. He lives in Temple, Texas. African American Studies.