The Dawn Broke Hot and Somber: U.S. Race Riots of 1964

What were the socioeconomic conditions and factors that produced the instances in which riots erupted in northern U.S. cities in 1964? This book examines the year in American history that brought a new era in race relations to the nation.
• Presents a comprehensive analysis of the violence that plagued the United States during a crucial period of race relations—information that cannot be found in a single source in the existing literature on racial violence
• Offers in-depth case studies of specific riots that erupted in 1964
• Explains why riots occurred where they did in the United States
• Explores the 1964 riots within the context of the broader social, economic, and political issues of the 1960s
Review
"Ann V. Collins' The Dawn Broke Hot and Somber presents the first comprehensive examination of the urban riots of 1964 in Harlem, Rochester, Philadelphia, as well as smaller cities in New Jersey and Illinois. Collins contends that 1964 marked a 'hinge of history.' Her study offers an important corrective to the conventional understanding of the riots of the 1960s which focuses almost exclusively on the riots in Watts, Newark and Detroit, in 1965 and 1967, respectively, at the expense of those that took place before 1965." (Peter B. Levy, Professor of History, York College, York, Pennsylvania)
About the Author
Ann V. Collins, PhD, is associate professor of political science at McKendree University, Lebanon, IL.