Monroe Work (1866-1945), a sociologist, published the Negro Year Book and an extensive bibliography on African Americans. He was also active in the anti-lynching campaign and the Negro Health Week movement.

Monroe Nathan Work was born to ex-slaves on August 15, 1866, in Iredell County, North Carolina. Shortly after his birth Work's family moved to Cairo, Illinois, where his father worked as a tenant farmer. Like many freedmen, the Works wanted to own land, and in the 1870s they preempted a 160-acre farm in Summer County, Kansas. Work remained there--completing his elementary education at a nearby school located in a church--until 1889 when his mother died and his father went to live with one of the married children.

At the age of 23 Work was finally free to pursue the education he had long desired. He entered a bi-racial high school in Arkansas City, working to support himself while a student. After...