A House Built by Slaves: African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House

2023 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize Winner

By Jonathan W. White

This book illuminates why Lincoln’s unprecedented welcoming of African American men and women to the White House transformed the trajectory of race relations in the United States. From 1862, Lincoln began inviting African Americans of every background into his home, from ex-slaves to champions of abolitionism. More than a good-will gesture, Lincoln conferred with his guests about the essential issues of citizenship and voting rights. Drawing from primary sources, White reveals how African Americans used the White House to amplify their calls for equality. Lincoln’s inclusion of African Americans remains a necessary example in a country still struggling from racial divisions today.

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (February 2022)