Deschutes Public Library

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

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 453-639)

collective biography

illustrations

no index present

non fiction

All that she carried

bibliography

1292531827

Tiya Miles

the journey of Ashley's sack, a Black family keepsake

" 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."--, Provided by publisher

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

Journey of Ashley's sack, a Black family keepsake