A. E. Johnson – författare

When first published by the American Baptist Publication Society in 1894, The Hazeley Family was advertised as `a book that should be in every Sunday-school library'. The novel is typical of the `angel of the home' romances written by American women in the later nineteenth century. It tells how the moral fibre of Flora Hazeley keeps her family together - a constant concern in Afro-American literature and life. The characters are `non-racial', one of the tactics that many black writers used to overcome the racial sterotypes demanded by the white establishment.

Published in 1890, this novel reflects the social reform ideology of the US women's movement in the late nineteenth century. Its theme is the destructive effect of the 'demon' alcohol on the family. The Baptist Messenger, a black religious publication, called it `one of the silent, yet powerful agents at work to break down unreasonable prejudice, which is a hindrance to both races.'