After Redemption: Jim Crow and the Transformation of African American Religion in the Delta, 1875-1915

After Redemption: Jim Crow and the Transformation of African American Religion in the Delta, 1875-1915. By John M. Giggie. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. Pp. xvii, 315. Abbreviations, prologue, introduction, epilogue, notes, bibliography, index. $74.00, cloth; $31.95, paper.) In After Redemption, John Giggie of the University of Alabama has produced an intriguing interpretation of black religion in the Deep South. The author suggests that the period of African-American history from Reconstruction to World War I has too often been neglected. Yet, says Giggie, this period "was a time of intense religious transformation" in which "rural African Americans" helped create the New South and were not just "quiet, distant observers" (pp. 5, 58). In the best tradition of historical scholarship, Giggie recreates a lost and almost forgotten world. Focusing on the Arkansas- Mississippi Delta, his book goes beyond political and denominational history to look at how modern technology, new business techniques, and non-church organizations affected the development of black religion. The author's use of sources is impressive, both in quantity and quality. He has dug deeply into private manuscripts, visiting more than fifteen separate repositories. The monograph also relies on insights garnered from more than fifty newspapers, most published by African-American religious bodies. Giggie rightly recognizes the richness of these periodicals and their importance for the self-understanding of black believers. The author also makes good use of government documents, denominational records, and scholarly secondary literature. Much development in the black religious ethos, according to the author, happened outside church walls. As railroads penetrated the delta, for example, trains became significant to the material lives and in the symbolic imagery of black locals. On the one hand, trains provided opportunity. They symbolized freedom and modernity, including the possibility of escape from the region's violent racism. Railroads also provided opportunities for evangelical outreach, for black ministers to travel, and for churches to relocate to rail centers. On the other hand, segregation on trains also humiliatingly reinforced the second-class social status of African Americans. Giggie then shows the powerful impact of black fraternal lodges on the African-American religious experience. Such groups as the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias promoted "an ethic of self-help" and "alternative routes to dignity and status" (pp. 62-63). These groups put forth inspiring interpretations of African history, demanded decorum, and provided insurance benefits. Although initially suspicious of the lodges, black churches eventually reached accommodation with them. Churches began to provide similar self-help groups, many aimed at women, who were excluded from the lodges. …