| I am indebted to four colleagues who read, in its entirety, a rough manuscript of this study and offered advice and encouragement. They include John Munroe, to whom this book is dedicated; John Kern, whose support for this project at its earliest stages was crucial; Carol Hoffecker, who urged me to sharpen many of my observations; and Peter Kolchin, who gave both the rough manuscript and a more polished version an exceptionally close reading and then offered constructive suggestions. These four readers, of course, bear no responsibility for any factual or interpretative errors that may appear in the final version. |
| Among the staff at the Delaware State Archives who were generous with their time and knowledge were Joanne Mattern, Russell McCabe, Susan Evans, Bruce Hass, and Randy Goss. Madeline Dunn Thomas of the Delaware State Museums was supportive of this study from its inception. Others who have contributed to the completion of this work include Jack Murray, Charles Kopay, Bruce Bendler, Brenda Baker, Peter Dalleo, Loren Schweninger, Adrienne Berney, and Helen Williams. I am particularly grateful to the late Harold B. Hancock for his pioneering scholarship on early blacks in Delaware and for encouraging me to work in Delaware history. |
| Connie Cooper and the staff of the Historical Society of Delaware served my research needs in a particularly professional manner as did the staffs of the Steven Betz Library at Delaware Technical and Community College, Georgetown, and the Hugh Morris Library at the University of Delaware, Newark. Ann M. Aydelotte and Carolyn Travers, editors at Scholarly Resources, patiently guided me through the final stages of turning the manuscript into a book. The Delaware Humanities Forum provided a summer research grant. The University of Delaware generously backed this study with two summer research grants, an expense account, a sabbatical leave, and a year's appointment as a Fellow in the University's Center for Advanced Study. |
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The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for permanence of paper for printed library materials, Z39.48, 1984.