Comparing the private black colleges of Texas with its public institutions and with other black colleges across the nation, Michael R. Heintze convincingly supports the revisionist view of these schools as valuable social institutions instead of the corrupt and inadequate imitations critics have called them. In his comparisons, Heintze discusses historical backgrounds, curricula, and finances. He concludes that despite poor financing, limited facilities, and shortages of teachers and equipment, the independent black colleges in Texas made vital, unique, and lasting contributions.