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All that she carried : the journey of Ashley's sack, a black family keepsake / Tiya Miles.

Miles, Tiya, 1970- (author.).

Summary:
"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 labor'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

Record details

  • ISBN: 9781984854995
  • ISBN: 1984854992
  • Physical Description: xvii, 385 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
  • Edition: First edition.
  • Publisher: New York : Random House, [2021]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Formatted Contents Note:
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.
Subject: 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.
Memory > United States.
Genre: History.
Biographies.

Available copies

  • 26 of 27 copies available at SPARK Libraries.

Holds

  • 1 current hold with 27 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Albright Memorial Library 306.362 MILES (Text) 50686015727709 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Alexander Hamilton Memorial Free Library 306.3 MIL (Text) 37268003105483 AHMFL Adult Non-Fiction Available -
Cambria County Library 306.362 M643a (Text) 85131001767178 CACM Non-Fiction Available -
Dillsburg Area Public Library Adults 306.3 MIL Nonfiction (Text) 34001001400058 Adult Area Available -
Emmaus Public Library 306.362 MILE (Text) 36446002042144 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Exeter Community Library 306.362 MIL (Text) 33249024785630 Non-fiction Recently Returned -
Gettysburg Library 306.362 MILES (Text) 35740635766496 Nonfiction Available -
Green Free Library (Wellsboro) 306.362 MIL (Text) 92524649 GFWM Main Room Available -
Indian Valley Public Library 306.3 Miles History (Text) 39427103593653 Nonfiction Room: Adult Nonfiction Available -
Kutztown Community Library 306.362 MIL (Text) 33249024633004 Non-fiction Available -

Summary: "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 labor'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"--

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