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Seasons In Hell: Charles S. Johnson And The 1930 Liberian Labor Crisis, Phillip James Johnson
Seasons In Hell: Charles S. Johnson And The 1930 Liberian Labor Crisis, Phillip James Johnson
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
In 1930, African American sociologist Charles S. Johnson of Fisk University traveled to the Republic of Liberia as the American member of a League of Nations commission to investigate allegations of slavery and forced labor in that West African nation. In the previous five years, the face of Liberia had changed after the large-scale development of rubber plantations on land leased by the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, with headquarters in Akron, Ohio. Political turmoil greeted Johnson in Liberia, an underdeveloped nation teetering on the brink of economic collapse. This dissertation focuses on Johnson’s role as the key member of …