[1] Henry McNeal Turner, a noted African Methodist Episcopal minister and leader, wrote the introduction.

[2] Based on primary source material such as "speeches, sermons, and articles",[1] Simmons wrote short biographies of many prominent African-American men and historic figures, such as Crispus Attucks, Frederick Douglass, Henry Highland Garnet, and Alexander Crummell, as well as lesser known ones.

The range of occupations include attorneys, carpenters, pastors, merchants, phrenologists, artists, and scholars.

[1] The entries demonstrate the leading role that religious leaders played in African-American life and identity of the time.

[1] Numerous other biographical anthologies covering African Americans were published around this time, as blacks became educated and worked to establish their place in United States life and history.