The Sage of Tawawa: Reverdy Cassius Ransom, 1861–1959 by Annetta L. Gomez-Jefferson (review)

BOOK REVIEWS alive and there is hope. In short,the story of Floyd Collins and his struggle tc) survive is we]1 written and well researched by men who know histc, ry and caving, and who h. ive enriched their story with contemporary newspaper acco, ints and with oral history ititerviews dinie with people connected to Collins and the rescue. The bc, c, k als(, includes a detailed description of the Sand Cave site based oti the authors'own explorations that helped theni to better understand and describe the confinement of a man pinned in a crevice by rc, ck and dirt fiftyfive feet below ground. Finally,an important part of this tale revolves less around the trapped man than how the media created a national event out of a local tragedy, much as cable television news shows ind t. ibloid newspapers still do today. This reprinting of a book originally published in 1979 by ( i. P. Putnam' s Sons is well worth the read. It provides important information about a time period that should not be fc, rgotten and makes fc, r exciting reading as it brings this bit of history, at least, to lile. Cornelia F. Sexatter University of WisconsinMaratbo , i Countv Annetta L. GomezJefferson . Tbe Sage of Tawawa:Reverdy Cassius Ransom, 18611959 . Kent: Kent State University Press, 2002. 325 pp ISBN: 0873387481 ( cloth), 42.00. he African American religious experience has produced numerous individuals whose lives have made significant contributions to the nation. Among the more well known are Dr. Martin Luther King, leaders was Reverdy Cassius Ransom, a highly influential clericactivist scholar in the African Methodist Episcopal Church ( AMEC). By way of background, the AMEC was established in 1787 iii response to racial discrimination at the mostly white St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Subsequently, other AMEC congregations were formed in inost states with black popul att() 11 S. After graduating iii 1886 from Wilberforce University iii Ohio, Ransom served as a paste, r in several states and eventually was elected as a bishop in the AMEC. Throughout his early years in the AMEC as a pastor, he raised an articulate opposition to the acconiniodation to white supremacy supported by Booker T. Washington. His support ot reform I . effc, rts called at the time social gospel coincided with the views of Dr. W. E.B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter,h jghly visible secular opponents ot segregatic, n and racial discrimination. Ransom often chastised fellow black clerics and others for not making tlie church an effective opponent of racial discrimitiation and ati advc, cate for social change. Ransom's religious advocacy coincided with his love for Wilberforce University where he finally retired and died in 1959 after serving the AMEC 12: 04 . 9:# C]* b Baje ( 01/ aajawal] i t, ty, , f;,»«£** 1 „ ,, * jf} , the Reverend Ralph David Abernathy and the Reverend Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Among the lesser known but nonetheless important black religious as a bishop well intc,his nineties. His battle to keep Wilberforce University open led to part of the university being c017trolled by the State of Ohio and eventually spun off as Central State University,an historically black public university. Professor GomezJefferson reveals the complexities of Ransom' s life and work in the context of the inner workings of one of the oldest Africaii American organizations,the church,that fc,rms an integral part of Ransc, iii's story. But Pr() fess() r Gomez Jefferson 's also adds her personal understanding of Ransom since her father,Joseph Gomez,was both an AMEC minister and bishop mentored by OHIO VAI. LEY HISTORY 72 Ransom. Her introduction, fc, r instance, informs readers that Ransom had personal flaws that she goes on to detail. In this respect, the The Sage of Tawaiva seems reasonably balanced and thoughtful . The only possible flaw in the book lies ill the author's treatment of AMEC protocoIs and organizational processes. Readers who are not familiar with AMEC might find some of her discussions ot Ransoin's interactic, ns with other clerics to be merely accounts of administrative " turf-battles of little substance. In sum,this work makes an important contribution tc)the study of...