An African American folk saying declares; "Our God can make a way out of no way.... He can do anything but fail." When Dianne Swann-Wright set out to capture and relate the history of her ancestors―African Americans in central Virginia after the Civil War―she had to find that way; just as her people had done in creating a new life after emancipation. In order to tell their story; she could not rely solely on documents from the plantation where her forebears had lived. Unlike the register of babies born; marriages made; or lives lost that white families’ Bibles contained; ledgers recorded Swann-Wright’s ancestors; as commodities. Thus Swann-Wright took another route; setting out to gather spoken words―stories; anecdotes; and sayings. What results is a strikingly rich and textured history of a slave community.Looking at relations between plantation owners and their slaves and the succeeding generations of both; A Way out of No Way explores what it meant for the master-slave relation to change to one of employer and employee and how patronage; work relationships; and land acquisition evolved as the people of Piedmont Virginia entered the twentieth century. Swann-Wright illustrates how two white landowners; one of whom had headed a plantation before the Civil War; learned to compensate freed persons for their labor. All the more fascinating is her study of how the emancipated learned to be free―of how they found their way out of no way.
#1965172 in Books Rutgers University Press 2009-10-30 2009-10-30Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.30 x 1.10 x 6.30l; 1.35 #File Name: 0813546117330 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Davegreat product!7 of 8 people found the following review helpful. An Extraordinary Hero and ChampionBy Dwight J. Zimmerman; #1 New York Times Bestselling AuthorThis incredibly thorough and wide-ranging biography of Dr. Walker is a fascinating treasure. The author did a tremendous service gathering so much information about her. In one respect it could be argued that she had too much information; because there were times that the facts were summarized when additional details would have enriched the story. That said; author Sharon Harris has written the best biography to date of this all-but-forgotten American hero.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Fascinating Biography of Mary Edwards WalkerBy Pat in SyracuseThis has to be the most definitive biography of Mary Edwards Walker; written with a fine writing style; and sharing interesting and correct previously unknown information. Walker must be one of the most photographed individuals in the 19th C! I recently discovered a previously unkown photograph [carte-de-visite; about the size of a playing card] in the UK National Portrait Gallery; mislabeled as Amelia Jenks Bloomer (taken while on tour in Manchester; England in 1866; one of seven poses).Below I would like to add a bit more information not possible in an already 300+ biography: Abolitionist Garrit Smith managed his brother's business briefly in Oswego; but spent most of his life selling land throughout NYS from the village of Peterboro of Smithfield township; named for his father; Peter Smith. His mansion was a stop on the underground railroad and he gave freely of his money to help 'freedom takers' on their way to Canada. The first meeting of the New York State Anti-Slavery Society (October 22; 1835) was held in the Presbyterian Church of Peterboro; NY (now the National Abolitionist Hall of Fame); when the group was run out of Utica; NY; where Gerrit was born. Smith also supported (yet to a lesser extent) women's rights and the dress reform introduced to Seneca Falls in 1851 by his daughter Elizabeth Smith Miller; visiting; from Geneva; her cousin Cady Stanton (Gerrit's first cousin); who reported on it in "The Lily" a reporter for "The Lily." (Entire run available at http://www.accessible-archives.com/collections/the-lily/ ) Though born in Homer; NY; Amelia Jenks Bloomer and her family moved to Seneca Falls when she was six in 1824 (Anti-Slavery proponent; the Reverend John Keep [in future; of Oberlin fame] purchased their home; which was owned by Amelia's mother; Lucy Webb Jenks. See house marker at 43 N. Main St; aka NYS Rte 11). There in Seneca Falls she remained; attending; with her husband; Dexter C. Bloomer (who owned the Seneca Courier and who would be her only biographer later) the first Women's Rights Convention; July 20-21; 1848; and Jenks Bloomer publishing and editing the first newspaper by a woman for women; January 1st; 1849 (5 1/2 months after the Convention). Soon; the newspaper no longer had the word "Temperance" on its masthead; rather; "Devoted to the Interests of Women." It was Jenks Bloomer who introduced her house guest and good friend; Susan B. Anthony to Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
