The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White

The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White - Paperback

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The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White
  • The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White
The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White - Paperback

The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White - Paperback

by Henry Wiencek
$27.99
$27.99

Book Overview

by Henry Wiencek (Author)

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award

The Hairstons is the extraordinary story of the largest family in America, the Hairston clan. With several thousand black and white members, the Hairstons share a complex and compelling history: divided in the time of slavery, they have come to embrace their past as one family.

The black family's story is most exceptional. It is the account of the rise of a remarkable people--the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of slaves--who took their rightful place in mainstream America.

In contrast, it has been the fate of the white family--once one of the wealthiest in America--to endure the decline and fall of the Old South, and to become an apparent metaphor for that demise. But the family's fall from grace is only part of the tale. Beneath the surface lay a hidden history--the history of slavery's curse and how that curse plagued slaveholders for generations.

For the past seven years, journalist Wiencek has listened raptly to the tales of hundreds of Hairston relatives, including the aging scions of both the white and black clans. He has crisscrossed the old plantation country in Virginia, North Carolina, and Mississippi to seek out the descendants of slaves. Visiting family reunions, interviewing family members, and exploring old plantations, Wiencek combs the far-reaching branches of the Hairston family tree to gather anecdotes from members about their ancestors and piece together a family history that involves the experiences of both plantation owners and their slaves. He expertly weaves the Hairstons' stories from all sides of historical events like slave emancipation, Reconstruction, school segregation, and lynching.

Paradoxically, Wiencek demonstrates that these families found that the way to come to terms with the past was to embrace it, and this lyrical work, a parable of redemption, may in the end serve as a vital contribution to our nation's attempt to undo the twisted historical legacy of the past.

Author Biography

Henry Wiencek was series editor of the Smithsonian Guide to Historic America, a twelve-volume descriptive guide to the country's historic sites. He is author of Old Houses, with essays on the histories of eighteen American houses and the families who built them, published in association with the National Trust for Historic Preservation; two books on Southern architecture--Mansions of Virginia Gentry and Plantations of the Deep South; and several books for Time-Life. He has contributed articles to American Heritage and Smithsonian Magazine. Born in Boston and educated at Yale, he lives in Virginia with his wife, the writer Donna Lucey, and their son.

Number of Pages: 400
Dimensions: 0.91 x 9.07 x 6.05 IN
Illustrated: Yes
Publication Date: February 19, 2000
Award: National Book Critics Circle Award (1999)
Accelerated Reader:
Quiz Name: Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White
Interest Level: Upper Grades, 9-12
Reading Level: 8.7
Point Value: 25
ISBN9780312253936
Author Henry Wiencek
PublisherSt. Martin's Griffin
GenreHistory and Education
FormatPaperback
PublishedFebruary 2000
LanguageENG- English
Pages400
Weight1.0 lb
Target AudienceTeens & young adults
Print SizeStandard Print

Related Subjects

History Nonfiction Social Science

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About Henry Wiencek

Henry Wiencek, a nationally prominent historian and writer, is the author of several books, including The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1999; An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize Award; and Master of the Mountain: Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.

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