Two audiences. One conviction: history is for everyone, and the books that tell it should be too.
Spence Heritage Press began with a simple observation: the best American stories are not always the ones that get told first, told well, or told to the people who most need to hear them.
Our publisher, Lamont Spence, spent more than a decade in workforce development and community work in New York — including time with the Urban League. He noticed two audiences who were chronically underserved by the books that exist about Black American history.
The first was children. Picture books and early readers about Black historical figures were often either too academic for a four-year-old or too cartoonish to take seriously. There were very few books a teacher could put on a kindergarten table that treated the subject — and the child — with full dignity.
The second was seniors. Activity directors at assisted living and memory care facilities had almost nothing made for their residents. Adult coloring books were everywhere, but books that combined large print, real biography, and figures the residents had actually grown up watching on television? Almost nothing.
We built the press to serve both.
The Legacy Series is for the elders who lived through the era. The voice is mature. The print is large. The reflection prompts are not learning prompts — they are doors back into the reader's own life.
The Young Learners Series is for the children who will inherit the story. The voice is age-appropriate. The art is dignified. The biographies are short enough for a four-year-old and accurate enough for a teacher to use without rewriting.
Both series share a 8.5×11 trim, an educational mission, and a refusal to talk down to the reader.
