All that she carried : the journey of Ashley's sack, a Black family keepsake
Miles, Tiya, 1970-2021
Books
Find it!
"Sitting in the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture is a rough cotton bag, called "Ashley's Sack," embroidered with just a handful of words that evoke a sweeping family story of loss and of love passed down through generations. In 1850s South Carolina, just before nine-year-old Ashley was sold, her mother, Rose, gave her a sack filled with just a few things as a token of her love. Decades later, Ashley's granddaughter, Ruth, embroidered this history on the bag--including Rose's message that "It be filled with my Love always." Historian Tiya Miles carefully follows faint archival traces back to Charleston to find Rose in the kitchen where she may have packed the sack for Ashley. From Rose's last resourceful gift to her daughter, Miles then follows the paths their lives and the lives of so many like them took to write a unique, innovative history of the lived experience of slavery in the United States. The contents of the sack--a tattered dress, handfuls of pecans, a braid of hair, "my Love always"--speak volumes and open up a window on Rose and Ashley's world. As she follows Ashley's journey, Miles metaphorically "unpacks" the sack, deepening its emotional resonance and revealing the meanings and significance of everything it contained. These include the story of enslaved labour's role in the cotton trade and apparel crafts and the rougher cotton "negro cloth" that was left for enslaved people to wear; the role of the pecan in nutrition, survival, and southern culture; the significance of hair to Black women and of locks of hair in the nineteenth century; and an exploration of Black mothers' love and the place of emotion in history"-- Provided by publisher.
Main title:
Author:
Miles, Tiya, 1970-, author
Imprint:
New York : Random House, [2021]©2021
Collation:
xvii, 385 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some colour) ; 22 cm.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
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.
Awards:
National Book Award Winner, Nonfiction, 2021
ISBN:
9781984854995 (hbk)9781984854995
Dewey class:
306.3620820975306.362
Language:
English
Added title:
Subject:
Ashley (Enslaved person in South Carolina)Middleton, Ruth Jones, 1903-1942 -- FamilyWomen slaves -- South Carolina -- BiographyAfrican American women -- BiographyMothers and daughtersWomen slaves -- Southern States -- Social conditions -- 19th centurySlaves -- Family relationships -- Southern States -- History -- 19th centuryAfrican American women -- Family relationshipsAfrican Americans -- Material culture -- South Carolina -- HistoryHeirlooms -- South Carolina -- HistoryMemory -- United StatesBiographies
BRN:
496763
More Information:
| Location | Collection | Call number | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brighton Library | Adult Non Fiction - Biography | 306.362 MIL | Available |