Armed with only early boyhood memories, Lawrence P. Jackson begins his
quest by setting out from his home in Baltimore for Pittsylvania
County, Virginia, to try to find his late grandfather’s old home by
the railroad tracks in Blairs. My Father’s Name tells the tale of
the ensuing journey, at once a detective story and a moving historical
memoir, uncovering the mixture of anguish and fulfillment that
accompanies a venture into the ancestral past, specifically one tied
to the history of slavery. After asking around in Pittsylvania County
and carefully putting the pieces together, Jackson finds himself in
the house of distant relations. In the pages that follow, he becomes
increasingly absorbed by the search for his ancestors and increasingly
aware of how few generations an African American needs to map back in
order to arrive at slavery, “a door of no return.” Ultimately,
Jackson’s dogged research in libraries, census records, and
courthouse registries enables him to trace his family to his
grandfather’s grandfather, a man who was born or sold into slavery
but who, when Federal troops abandoned the South in 1877, was able to
buy forty acres of land. In this intimate study of a black Virginia
family and neighborhood, Jackson vividly reconstructs moments in the
lives of his father’s grandfather, Edward Jackson, and
great-grandfather, Granville Hundley, and gives life to revealing
narratives of Pittsylvania County, recalling both the horror of
slavery and the later struggles of postbellum freedom. My Father’s
Name is a family story full of twists and turns—and one of haunting
familiarity to many Americans, who may question whether the promises
of emancipation have ever truly been fulfilled. It is also a resolute
look at the duties that come with reclaiming and honoring Americans
who survived slavery and a thoughtful meditation on its painful and
enduring history.
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A Black Virginia Family after the Civil War
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780226389509
Publisert
2018
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Vendor
University of Chicago Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter