The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 95, July 1991 - April, 1992 Page: 547

Book Revzews

just about music; it covers the full spectrum of music, social life, civil rights,
business, and religion in a period of great change for Houston's black commu-
nity. In a perceptive and well-documented introduction, Govenar discusses the
role of photography in this context, pointing out that, "Not only was the photo-
graph a record of an event for an individual, it conferred social identity on its
owner" (p. 18). The reader perceives that, literally, there is more behind these
photographs than meets the eye.
The body of the work consists of fifty-eight black-and-white plates selected to
show the technical quality of Joseph's work as well as the variety of his subject
matter, from "Gatemouth" Brown to grocery stores. Joseph used a Speed-
graphic camera during these peak years, producing images of clarity and defi-
nition in his street scenes as much as in his studio portraiture. The plates match
the sharpness and tonal values of the gelatin silver prints prepared for the re-
cent traveling exhibit of fifty Benny Joseph photographs, most of which also
appear in this volume. Following the plates are a section of notes for the intro-
ductory essay, a selected bibliography, and technical information on the plates.
Though the notes might better have followed the essay, and the brief technical
data accompanied each plate, these are minor points in an elegant and well-
crafted work.
Benny Joseph had his counterparts in other Texas cities who likewise re-
corded on film the music, the struggles, and the daily life of African Americans
in their communities. The present work is an important addition to the grow-
ing field of interest in their work. It will appeal to students of African American
history, urban history, music, and photography, as well as to the general public.
The book is recommended for both public and academic or special libraries.
Center for American History, JOHN WHEAT
University of Texas at Austin
The Late 19th-Century U.S. Army, 1865-i89: A Research Guide. By Joseph G.
Dawson III. (New York: Greenwood Press, 1990. Pp. xix+252. Series fore-
word, preface, introduction, notes, appendices, index. $45.)
Seldom does a reviewer have the privilege to describe a book as well con-
ceived and produced as Joseph G. Dawson's The Late 19th-Century U.S. Army,
x865- 898: A Research Guide. One of a growing number of bibliographic aids
produced by Greenwood Press, the present volume will be indispensable to
scholars interested in the late nineteenth-century American army. Dawson's
work is organized into topical chapters on government documents and manu-
script collections, general secondary works, Reconstruction, the Indian wars,
memoirs and contemporary accounts, forts and post life, coastal defense, ad-
ministration and the army's miscellaneous other duties, and selected fiction.
The impressive bibliography includes some 1,171 printed accounts; lists of 304
government documents, the assorted personal papers of forty top military fig-
ures, and a concise description of pertinent collections in the National archives
complete the extensive guide to sources.
The Late 19th-Century U.S. Army has something to please virtually every user.
Handy appendices list commanding generals, secretaries of war, and army

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