CRRL Virginiana: African American Life StoriesLike this list

12 items

• Almost Free

  a Story About Family and Race in Antebellum Virginia

  Wolf, Eva Sheppard, 1969-

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  The story of Samuel Johnson, a free African American man, who worked to free the rest of his family from slavery in Virginia. From the University of Georgia Press.

• Daughters of the Dream

  Eight Girls From Richmond Who Grew Up in the Civil Rights Era

  Copeland, Tamara Lucas

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  Connected by friendship and supported by their families and community, these eight African American girls went on to be successful in their chosen fields and kept their close bond for decades.

• Hidden Figures

  the American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race

  Lee Shetterly, Margot

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  Before this bestselling book and the subsequent blockbuster movie, few knew the story of the 50 African Americans who were among the women asked to serve as human computers at Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory during the early days of the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

  Skloot, Rebecca, 1972-

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  Born in Roanoke, Henrietta Lacks became famous after her death as HeLa, which is how the line of cells taken from her during medical treatment is known. HeLa has been part of the polio vaccine, cancer research, and more, but Henrietta Lacks, a poor…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Pennies to Dollars

  the Story of Maggie Lena Walker

  Branch, Muriel Miller

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  Born to a previously enslaved mother and an immigrant Irish father in Richmond in 1867, Maggie rose from a childhood of poverty to become educated and found the oldest continuously operated African American bank, while fighting against racial…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• A Slave No More

  Two Men Who Escaped to Freedom : Including Their Own Narratives of Emancipation

  Blight, David W.

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  This true story has local connections.

• Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County

  a Family, a Virginia Town, a Civil Rights Battle

  Green, Kristen (Journalist)

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  After desegregation became the law of the land, Prince Edward County decided to close its schools, chaining and locking the doors, and using the supplies in their new private school system--for whites only. Newspaper reporter Kristen Green was born…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Son of Virginia

  a Life in America's Political Arena

  Wilder, Lawrence Douglas, 1931-

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  Despite Doug Wilder's childhood spent living in a segregated state, he was able to rise through its political ranks, becoming that state's first African American governor. Here, he tells his story and that of his family.

• The Sword and the Broom

  the Exceptional Career and Accomplishments of John Mercer Langston

  Salisbury, Linda G. (Linda Grotke)

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  A college-educated attorney, John Mercer Langston went on to head the Freedmen's Bureau and found Howard University's law school, as well as serving as the first president of Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute in Petersburg, now Virginia State…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Taste of Country Cooking

  Lewis, Edna

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  Edna Lewis grew up in the small farming settlement of Freetown in Orange County, Virginia, and went on to become a renowned chef, teacher, and proponent of Southern cooking. This is a book of reminiscences and recipes.

• Virginia Slave Narratives

  a Folk History of Slavery in Virginia From Interviews With Former Slaves

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  In the 1930s, interviewers with the Works Progress Administration spoke with formerly enslaved people and recorded their experiences before freedom came.

• We Were Always Free

  the Maddens of Culpeper County, Virginia : a 200-year Family History

  Madden, T. O.

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  Ever since 1758, when Sarah Madden was born to an unmarried Irish woman and an unknown African American father, the Maddens have been free, escaping--and sometimes defying--the laws and customs that condemned other African Americans to slavery in…Read moreRead more of this annotation