{"id":5791,"date":"2026-02-19T18:52:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T18:52:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libraries.clemson.edu\/press\/?post_type=books&#038;p=5791"},"modified":"2026-02-19T18:53:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T18:53:39","slug":"the-right-man","status":"publish","type":"books","link":"https:\/\/libraries.clemson.edu\/press\/books\/the-right-man\/","title":{"rendered":"The Right Man"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<em>The Right Man <\/em>is a powerful, authoritative biography of Dr. James Edward Shepard, founder of North Carolina Central University and one of the most influential African American educational leaders of the early twentieth century. Henry Lewis Suggs has brought together one of the most extensive collections of materials on Shepard\u2019s life, resulting in a compelling narrative that places Shepard squarely at the center of major conversations about leadership, education, race, and institution building in the Jim Crow South. This book reflects decades of archival digging, intellectual commitment, and personal investment, and it will be valuable to scholars of African American, Southern, and higher education history. <em>The Right Man <\/em>offers a clear, engaging account of the negotiations, personalities, financial challenges, and overlapping networks that shaped NCCU\u2019s development. Readers gain a vivid picture of how Shepard built relationships with major philanthropists like B. N. Duke, Julian Carr, and George Watts, and how he navigated the racial politics of the early twentieth-century South. Suggs\u2019s discussion of Durham\u2019s Black civic networks\u2014featuring figures like C. C. Spaulding, Aaron Moore, and W. G. Pearson\u2014helps explain the environment that made NCCU\u2019s creation and growth possible. Suggs captures Shepard\u2019s skill as a fundraiser, organizer, lobbyist, and advocate, presenting him as a visionary leader who saw education as a powerful tool for Black advancement.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\">\u2014\u00a0Charles Denton Johnson, North Carolina Central University<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":5792,"template":"","subject":[70],"browse_by_series":[],"browse_by_imprints":[],"conference":[],"class_list":["post-5791","books","type-books","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","subject-history"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.clemson.edu\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/books\/5791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.clemson.edu\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/books"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.clemson.edu\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/books"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.clemson.edu\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/books\/5791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5796,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.clemson.edu\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/books\/5791\/revisions\/5796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.clemson.edu\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.clemson.edu\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.clemson.edu\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/subject?post=5791"},{"taxonomy":"browse_by_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.clemson.edu\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/browse_by_series?post=5791"},{"taxonomy":"browse_by_imprints","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.clemson.edu\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/browse_by_imprints?post=5791"},{"taxonomy":"conference","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.clemson.edu\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/conference?post=5791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}