Foot Prints

Richmond, Ky: Cut Rate Printing Co, 1914. About very good.. [54]pp. Original printed wrappers, string-tied. Front cover somewhat scuffed, some wear at lower edge, corners bumped. Light tanning and scattered faint foxing internally. First edition of this popular poetry collection. Laine (1870-1955) was a poet and teacher in Kentucky. He founded the Madison County Colored Teachers Association, which he chaired for twenty years. He was likewise an advocate for African-American farmers as the first Black county extension agent, and organized a club for the farmers in the county. He also created the Colored Chautauqua, an integrated educational event whose first speaker was W.E.B. DuBois, and campaigned against the segregation of Berea College after Kentucky's 1940 Day Law. Laine was inducted into the Kentucky Civil Rights Hall of Fame in 2003. This collection is his best-known volume of poetry, which was printed in 1914, 1925, and again in 1947. The subject matter is a combination of Black uplift, historical and childhood reminiscence, and praise for the deeds and virtues of important figures in Southern African-American history. Scarce in this first edition; OCLC locates only six physical copies, half of which are in Kentucky.