I was going to do a full review on my book blog, but it was just taking me so long to get through it that I gave up. This really is a fascinating true story, and a very important one, but the book includes a LOT of details and it gets kind of boring. I made it about two-thirds of the way through, and I think I'll stop there and move on to my other books. I do recommend it, though, but only if you're in the mood for a detail-oriented book that explores all the nuances of the political environment and social scene. ( )

One Righteous Man is a book that should be required reading in all schools. It tells the true story of Samuel Battle, who was the first African American cop in New York City. Battle’s story is compelling. He fought for civil rights at a time when this was almost unheard of.

Battle’s biography was originally written by Langston Hughes, but has never before been published. This book draws on that previous work, as well as other research sources, to bring to life the story of a man who rose through the ranks and made history, but has remained largely forgotten until now. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt wrote the foreword for the original book. Battle met her several times and greatly admired her.

The author, Arthur Browne, writes in an engaging style that makes the story flow like a novel. He provides background information that helps the reader understand the times in which Battle lived and the social situation at the time. The background information was really helpful and made the story come to life for me. History books leave out a lot of things and racial strife is one of those subjects.

Battle faced racism all along the way. He had to work much harder than any of his white colleagues, and was still treated as if he was a lower class than them. He was made to sleep in separate quarters at the police station and was not even spoken to by his fellow officers. They treated him horribly.

The book also chronicles the story of Wesley Williams, son of Chief James Williams, who was the supervisor of the luggage porters at Grand Central Depot. Williams had his men wear hats with red flannel on top, which earned them the name Red Caps, by which they are still known today. Battle’s first job was working for Chief Williams as a Red Cap. Wesley also wanted to get into a civil service job, so he consulted with Battle. He applied for the fire department and finally got a job there. He also was spurned by his colleagues and made to sleep in separate quarters than the other firemen. Like Battle, he faced racism and hate and made his way through the ranks.

Wesley was a heroic firefighter and made many spectacular saves, but was never given medals of honors like his colleagues, due to the racist attitude of many people. He deserved many honors for his work. He had to fight racist attitudes during his entire career. He once saved a man who leaped from a burning building by catching him with one arm while clinging to the fire ladder with the other arm. He saved five more people from that same burning building, and yet the fire department would not give him a citation for heroism, despite the fact that the story was written about in the news and he certainly had earned some sort of recognition. He was passed over for promotion many times in favor of less-qualified white firemen. He was eventually promoted, but it took many years and the help of some political friends to receive the promotion he deserved.

The same attitude prevailed throughout Battle’s entire career. He was an exemplary policeman. He eventually promoted through the ranks all the way up to Parole Commissioner, a position that was previously occupied by Lou Gehrig. But, he had to fight for every promotion and was even, at one point, sent to the worst station in New York, at the end of the line, where no one wanted to go. He was, in effect, exiled there. He made it back though, and managed to keep on doing his job and moving up through the ranks. He had a harder time than any of his white colleagues did though. His perseverance is extraordinary.

Segregation was still in force during the years that Wesley Williams and Samuel Battle were working in civil service. During WWII, the government had need of more workers in war factories. The book give the example of one factory that hired six black workers. In response, 25,000 white workers walked off the job in protest! This is something that history books keep quiet. Why is it that we don’t teach these things in our schools so that our kids can grow up with an understanding of where we have been?

Samuel Battle’s story is incredibly compelling. He was an amazing man and he had enormous courage to face the struggles that he did, first to get the job, and then to keep rising through the ranks. He faced obstacles were huge, but he left a lasting legacy for future generations. He was truly a civil rights pioneer and should be honored as such. ( )

Samuel Jesse Battle (1883-1966) was the eleventh child born to former slaves in New Bern, North Carolina. He was unusually large in size from birth, with a temperament that matched his physical stature. His dreams of a better life were also larger than life from a young age, thanks to the books that he read and the New York bound trains that regularly passed through town. However, New Bern and the post-Reconstruction South was no place for an aspiring African American boy to survive, nonetheless thrive, so he and his mother chose to travel to New York when he turned 15.

His size (6 feet 3 inches, 280 pounds), intelligence and fierce drive to succeed allowed him to find work easily, although the crushing and ever present racism in the late 19th and early 20th century severely limited his ability to advance to a respectable and well paying job. After a series of dead end jobs he was employed as a train porter at Grand Central Terminal, where he encountered numerous celebrities of all races, including the great Jack Johnson, the first African American to win the world heavyweight boxing championship in 1908, who Battle met at the station upon Johnson's triumphant return to the city.

Battle's salary and visibility as a porter permitted him access to the highest level of black society in NYC in the early 1900s, and he was positively influenced by the leading civil rights activists of the day. However, his porter's salary barely allowed him to make ends meet, as he was newly married and the father of a young son. Discrimination against blacks was still rampant in the city, particularly at the hands of officers of the New York Police Department (NYPD), which remained firmly segregated even though pre-unification Brooklyn and other cities in the Northeast did have some African Americans in their forces. After minimal encouragement Battle decided to apply for the NYPD, and after encountering numerous hurdles and roadblocks he was eventually installed as the city's first African American officer in 1911, and he served with distinction for the next 40 years.

In 1949 the famed Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes was commissioned by Battle to write a book about his life, based on interviews with the soon to be retired sergeant. An 80,000 word manuscript titled Battle of Harlem was the result, but it was never published. The author of this book, Arthur Browne, learned of this manuscript, and in working with Battle's grandson and his own research he relied on it to write this superb biography of Battle, which also serves as a history of African Americans in New York City during the first half of the 20th century. Battle's public visibility in the black community allowed him access and friendship to a wide variety of well known people, including Eleanor Roosevelt, the boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, and the composer Duke Ellington, and through his connections the reader learns about them as well.

I found One Righteous Man to be an engrossing and entertaining read, and I enjoyed the inclusion of other famous and historically important figures, which added to this excellent book. ( )

He was the victim of injustice. He understood the oppressive weight of poverty. He was demeaned by those with the power to do so. But Samuel J. Battle, the first African-American member of the New York Police Department, was never humiliated, because, from the moment he grasped the value of his dignity, he never relinquished it for a single second. One Righteous Man: Samuel Battle and The Shattering of The Color Line in New York by Arthur Browne is a powerful telling not only of Battle’s achievement, but also of the bumpy, sometimes absurd, and often tragically shameful path our nation has traveled towards racial equality.

Samuel J. Battle was a young man who became a strong Christian after he understood the bearings of his moral compass, and made a decision to follow where it pointed no matter what. But he was no saint. Arthur Browne’s willingness to show the wrong turns and dangerous choices of Mr. Battle’s early journey was vital to the story, as later Battle would have his beliefs challenged and tested. On the force, he was faced with decisions that offered no clear choices between right and wrong. At times Battle would even be vilified by the same predominantly black Harlem community that lauded him as a hero, and that he served and loved his entire life. The constant downpour of racism gave him perfect cover to focus on survival rather than principle, but he remained visible for all to see. The treatment he received at the hands of his fellow officers would have certainly made hatred an understandable destination, but Battle refused to listen to those dark directions.

As outstanding as Samuel J. Battle’s achievements were, what I found the most impressive was that by choosing dignity and principle Battle offered a great unearned gift to the white folks in his world. Battle left open the door that allowed them a path to human dignity. Far too few chose to cross that threshold, but for those that did they discovered that recognizing the dignity created by God in all men, they could recognize and claim their own. I highly recommend this book.

I’m very grateful to the folks at Beacon Press for sending me this book as part of the Librarything Early Reviewers program. It came just before the most recent bouts of racial tension in our country and offered a new perspective on the struggles that remain in healing the racial divide. You can check out Beacon Press at www.beaconpress.org ( )

A timely biography of the first black man to serve as a New York City police officer. This is story of extreme bravery and tireless effort in a thankless mission. Though Sam Battle excelled in his work he was rarely recognized and often ostracized. But his example would inspire an entire generation of men to strive for equality. Excellence is the only answer to hate. This book is both an encouraging reminder of progress and a chilling wake up call that there is still very very far to go in this country's story of racial equality. ( )