Book excerpt: The African American experience since the 19th century has included the resettlement of people from slavery to freedom, agriculture to industry, South to North, and rural to urban centers. This book is a documentary history of this process over more than 200 years in Toledo, Ohio. There are four sections: the origin of the Black community, 1787 to 1900; the formation of community life, 1900 to 1950; community development and struggle, 1950 to 2000; and survival during deindustrialization, 2000 to 2016. The volume includes articles from the Toledo Blade and local Black press, excerpts of doctoral and masters theses, and other specialist and popular writings from and about Toledo itself.