Montgomery Vale: Shadows Releases August 11 – New Character Based on Real Person Added: Officer Samuel J. Battle

July 29, 2016 | Patrice | Book Bits and Pieces, Montgomery Vale

I’ve dedicated my new book, Montgomery Vale, Shadows to the first black NY City police officer; Samuel Battle. His character comes in halfway through the book, but is very pivotal to the story.

Although the character of Montgomery Vale is fictitious, he is the composite of actual real-life people who, despite their circumstance, lead extraordinary lives in the 1930s and 1940s.

This book also introduces a new character, Commissioner Samuel Battle, who was in fact, a real person. He was the first African-American officer in New York city. Despite his aggressive detractors inside and outside the force, he rose through the ranks as the first African American police sergeant in 1926, lieutenant in 1935, and the first African American parole commissioner in 1941.

I hope you love this second book in a series!

Photos of Battle & His Family: