Encompassing both the panoramic story of Black women in America and the intimate, evocative details of the lives of individual women, Darlene Clark Hine and Kathleen Thompson bring readers a new perspective on a long-neglected area of our history. This inspiring, sometimes heartbreaking narrative offers fresh scholarship and historical presentation as it goes beyond descriptions of codified oppression to present the strength, courage, and resourcefulness of African-American women as individuals and as a collective force for positive change. A Shining Thread of Hope moves Black women from the fringes of history, disclosing their impact on American life from colonial America to the years of antebellum slavery to the arts renaissance of the 1970s and '80s. Gripping stories of Civil War spies, a new look at the Civil Rights movement, and an examination of the triumphs of recent years reveal what Black women have to teach all Americans about courage and survival.