A Free Man of Color and His Hotel

A Free Man of Color and His Hotel weaves the story of a uniquely successful black businessman into the burgeoning post-Civil War political struggle that pitted the federal government against the states' desire to remain autonomous. Born in Washington, D.C., James Wormley worked as a hacker in his father's livery stable there and as a steward on Mississippi River steamboats before establishing his own catering and boardinghouse businesses.