Stephen Middleton is professor emeritus of history at Mississippi State University and founding director of the university's African American Studies Program. He is author of The Black Laws: Race and the Legal Process in Ohio, 1787-1860. David R. Roediger is foundation professor of American studies and history at University of Kansas. He is author of Seizing Freedom: Slave Emancipation and Liberty for All. Donald M. Shaffer is director of the African American Studies Program as well as mentor to Presidential Scholars and associate professor of English at Mississippi State University. His work has appeared in The Southern Literary Journal and The Western Journal of Black Studies.