NEW ORLEANS AFTER THE PROMISES has been named a finalist for the 2008 Liberty Legacy Foundation Award given by the Organization of American Historians. This annual award recognizes the best book on any historical aspect of the struggle for civil rights in the United States from the nation's founding to the present.In the book, author Kent Germany—a Louisiana native and a former New Orleans resident—looks back at the Great Society era of the 1960s and 1970s to offer a detailed look at one of the greatest transformations in the city's history. He tells how a few thousand New Orleanians put their faith in God and American progress to the test as they sought to conquer poverty, confront racism, establish civic order, and expand the economy.
In a review of the book in the Journal of American History, Michael K. Brown said that, "this balanced case study raises new questions about the outcome of the War on Poverty and the persistence of racial inequality in the twenty-first century. . . . This is a fine study that anyone concerned with racial justice in America should read."
