| Edition |
Large print edition. |
| Description |
645 pages (large print) : illustrations ; 23 cm. |
| Physical Medium |
large print (16 point) rdafs |
| Series |
Thorndike Press large print biography and memoir |
|
Thorndike Press large print biographies and memoirs.
|
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 453-639). |
| Summary |
"In 1850s South Carolina, an enslaved woman named Rose faced a crisis, the imminent sale of her daughter Ashley. Thinking quickly, she packed a cotton bag with a few precious items as a token of love and to try to ensure Ashley's survival. Soon after, the nine-year-old girl was separated from her mother and sold. Decades later, Ashley's granddaughter Ruth embroidered this family history on the bag in spare yet haunting language--including Rose's wish that "It be filled with my Love always." Ruth's sewn words, the reason we remember Ashley's sack today, evoke a sweeping family story of loss and of love passed down through generations. Now, in this illuminating, deeply moving book inspired by Rose's gift to Ashley, historian Tiya Miles carefully unearths these women's faint presence in archival records to follow the paths of their lives--and the lives of so many women like them--to write a singular and revelatory history of the experience of slavery, and the uncertain freedom afterward, in the United States. The search to uncover this history is part of the story itself. For where the historical record falls short of capturing Rose's, Ashley's, and Ruth's full lives, Miles turns to objects and to art as equally important sources, assembling a chorus of women's and families' stories and critiquing the scant archives that for decades have overlooked so many. The contents of Ashley's sack--a tattered dress, handfuls of pecans, a braid of hair, "my Love always"--are eloquent evidence of the lives these women lived. As she follows Ashley's journey, Miles metaphorically unpacks the bag, deepening its emotional resonance and exploring the meanings and significance of everything it contained. All That She Carried is a poignant story of resilience and of love passed down through generations of women against steep odds. It honors the creativity and fierce resourcefulness of people who preserved family ties even when official systems refused to do so, and it serves as a visionary illustration of how to reconstruct and recount their stories today"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Contents |
Prologue: Emergency packs -- Introduction: Love's practitioners -- Ruth's record -- Searching for Rose -- Packing the sack -- Rose's inventory -- The auction block -- Ashley's seeds -- The bright unspooling -- Conclusion: It be filled -- Sampler : a note on terms -- Little sack of something : an essay on process. |
| Subject |
Ashley (Enslaved person in South Carolina)
|
|
Large type books.
|
|
Heirlooms -- South Carolina -- History.
|
|
Families. (OCoLC)fst01728849
|
|
Southern States. (OCoLC)fst01244550
|
|
Middleton, Ruth Jones, 1903-1942 -- Family.
|
|
South Carolina. (OCoLC)fst01204600
|
|
Memory. (OCoLC)fst01015913
|
|
Enslaved women -- Southern States -- Social conditions -- 19th century.
|
|
Mothers and daughters.
|
|
Enslaved women -- South Carolina -- Biography.
|
|
African Americans -- Material culture -- South Carolina -- History.
|
|
Women slaves -- Social conditions.
(OCoLC)fst01178536
|
|
African American women. (OCoLC)fst00799438
|
| Genre/Form |
Biographies.
|
|
Biographies. (OCoLC)fst01919896
|
| Subject |
Mothers and daughters. (OCoLC)fst01026997
|
|
United States. (OCoLC)fst01204155
|
|
Memory -- United States.
|
|
African American women -- Biography.
|
| Genre/Form |
History. (OCoLC)fst01411628
|
| Subject |
Enslaved persons -- Family relationships -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century.
|
|
Large type books. (OCoLC)fst00992678
|
| Chronological Term |
1800-1899
|
| Subject |
Women slaves. (OCoLC)fst01178532
|
|
Enslaved persons -- Family relationships.
(OCoLC)fst01120553
|
|
African American women -- Family relationships.
|
| Added Title |
Journey of Ashley's sack, a Black family keepsake |
| ISBN |
9781432898403 (large print ; hardcover) |
|
143289840X (large print ; hardcover) |
|
