“Administering Freedom is an exceptional piece of scholarship — a story both fascinating and largely untold . . . . superb.”—Matthew E. Stanley, Jacobin

“Rarely does a book make an original and seminal contribution to a well-worn field, the history of emancipation. . . no historian until Kretz has connected the claims of freedpeople on the federal government with state formation in United States history.”—Manisha Sinha, American Historical Review

“In an important, engaging, and well-researched book, Dale Kretz makes a valuable contribution to this scholarship and offers a distinctive, innovative perspective on African Americans' long battle for full citizenship.”–Journal of American History

“Administering Freedom deftly blends legal, political, and social history. Kretz weaves together an extensive array of sources. . . . [He] has written an incisive, timely book that merits a place on many syllabi and library shelves.”—Journal of African American History

“A compellingly told history of state power that displays how newly freed people contributed to the centralization of state bureaucracy. . . . [A] worthwhile and enlightening contribution to the post-Reconstruction period and the legal history of freedpeople.”–Journal of Southern History

“Dale Kretz’s impressive work opens new avenues for future scholars to explore Black administrative politics alongside the longstanding historical scholarship on Black electoral participation and community organizing.” –Black Perspectives

Reviews of Administering Freedom

Matthew E. Stanley, “Means-Testing Is the Foe of Freedom,” Jacobin.

Manisha Sinha, review in The American Historical Review.

Brandon T. Jett, review in Journal of Social History.

Leigh Soares, review in The Journal of African American History.

Dennis Patrick Halpin, review in The Journal of the Civil War Era.

DJ Polite, review in Journal of Southern History.

Frances O'Shaughnessy, “Black Administrative Politics and the Question of the US State,” Black Perspectives.

Evan C. Rothera, review in Civil War Monitor.

Bryan M. Jack, review in Ohio Valley History.

Rob Bates, review in Nineteenth Century History.