JMU Libraries and University/Community Partnership Publish 1875 Novel by Harrisonburg Black Educator George A. Newman

Posted May 29, 2025 in Featured News, JMU Libraries News, Special Collections News

photograph of newman's book, "A Miserable Revenge," and photograph of George A. Newman

In the mid-1870s, a young African American educator named George A. Newman arrived in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where he wrote a novel about antebellum life in the Shenandoah Valley. Nearly 150 years later, Newman’s work, A Miserable Revenge: A Story of Life in Virginia, is now available in print and online thanks to a collaboration between Newman’s family, the Harrisonburg community, and James Madison University.

Newman’s handwritten manuscript, written between 1876 and 1877, is part of the Ruth and Lowell Toliver Collection of Newman Family Papers, available in JMU Libraries Special Collections. Newman’s granddaughter, Ruth Toliver, a retired educator and local historian, received the manuscript from her aunt and subsequently donated it.

The project to publish the novel based on the manuscript was led by JMU English Professors Dr. Mollie Godfrey and Dr. Brooks Hefner, with contributions from experts in JMU Libraries, including Tiffany Cole, Kate Morris, Bodeene Amyot Cairdeas, Liz Thompson, Kirsten Mlodynia, and Kevin Hegg. Other JMU contributors and collaborators included Jeslyn Pool (MA ’23) and Evan Sizemore (MA ’23), assistant professor of education Leonard Richards (’13, ’14M), art history professor Sarah Brooks, and art professor Susan Zurbrigg.

George A. Newman, his book, and his legacy were celebrated during the Newman Symposium on May 1, 2025. The symposium took place at local landmarks significant to Newman’s life and legacy: the Lucy F. Simms Continuing Education Center, the Dallard-Newman House, and the Newtown Cemetery.

How to access A Miserable Revenge: A Story of Life in Virginia

Newman’s novel is freely available as an electronic edition on the Pressbooks platform hosted by JMU Libraries.

Print copies can be ordered at cost from VIVA, Virginia’s Academic Library Consortium.

A critical digital companion for the novel was created by JMU students, with support from JMU Libraries staff and faculty members. This companion website includes interviews, lesson plans, companion resources, and digital scans of Newman’s original manuscript.

To see the manuscript in person, schedule a visit to JMU Special Collections.