Cover Image

All that she carried : the journey of Ashley's sack, a Black family keepsake /

Show other versions (1)

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 wit...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Miles, Tiya, 1970- (Author)
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: New York : Random House, [2021].
Subjects:
Women slaves > South Carolina > Biography.
Ashley > (Enslaved person in South Carolina)
Mothers and daughters.
Women slaves > Southern States > Social conditions > 19th century.
Slaves > Family relationships > Southern States > History > 19th century.
Middleton, Ruth Jones, > 1903-1942 > Family.
African American women > Biography.
African American women > Family relationships.
African Americans > Material culture > South Carolina > History.
Heirlooms > South Carolina > History.
Memory > United States.
Table of 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.