The three chapters in Part I, “Black Organizational Life before 1830,” explore institutional transformations that supported Black literature of the period, focusing on church, print, and labor as key sites that supported the production of African American literature. Whereas opportunities to lead churches, print outlets, and labor organizations were male dominated, the chapters in this section also prioritize the efforts of men in the production of early African American literature. For more detail on the significance and presence of Black women in literature of this period, scholars should turn toward schooling as the expansion of educational institutions represents an important transition in African American literary culture in the early 1800s.