Iola Leroy: Or Shadows UpliftedThe Schomburg Library of Nineteenth Century Black Women Writers General Editor: HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR. The past two decades have seen a dramatic resurgence of interest in black women writers, as authors such as Toni Morrison and Alice Walker have come to dominate the larger African American literary landscape. Yet the works of the writers who founded and nurtured the black women's literary tradition nineteenth century African American women have