Wonderful Ethiopians Of The Ancient Cushite Empire has stood the test of time. In this masterpiece Drusilla Dunjee Houston historicizes the experience of the creators of human civilization she refers to them as the Wonderful Ethiopians. These human ancestors established a high culture that emerged in Ethiopia and spread in all directions.

Dunjee states: “The wonders of India, to which Europe sought a passage in the age of Columbus, the costly products and coveted merchandise of Babylon, and the amazing prehistoric civilization of Asian Minor, sprang from this little recognized source.”

Houston’s masterful blending of primary and secondary sources, combined with her eloquent prose, renders this book a literary masterpiece. Drusilla Dunjee Houston (1876-1941) was born in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. Her father (Reverend Dunjee) was a prominent Baptist preacher and a major figure in the black community. With his influence and connections to people like Frederick Douglass, Houston was never lacking in the acquisition of knowledge and the awareness of issues relevant to the black community.

Acknowledging the inadequate public education available for young black girls in McAlester, Oklahoma, Houston opened her own school, the McAlester Seminary for Girls. Houston took it upon herself to correct the wrongly held assumptions about black people?s part in human history. She responded by writing her major work Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire – originally published in 1926.