All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake

In 1850s South Carolina, enslaved woman Rose packed a cotton bag with items for her daughter Ashley, who was soon sold. Decades later, Ashley's granddaughter Ruth embroidered the family history on the sack. Harvard historian Tiya Miles traces these women's faint presence in archival records and uses objects, art, and the environment to write a singular history of slavery and the uncertain freedom afterward. All That She Carried is a poignant story of resilience and love passed down against steep odds.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 416 pages
Publication date: 01 February 2024
Publisher: Profile Books Ltd

LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

WINNER OF THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE

An astonishing account of love, resilience, and survival

Sunday Times

A remarkable book

New York Times

An extraordinary tale through the generations

Guardian

In 1850s South Carolina, Rose, an enslaved woman, faced a crisis: the imminent sale of her daughter, Ashley. Thinking quickly, she packed a cotton bag with a few items. Soon after, the nine-year-old girl was separated from her mother and sold. Decades later, Ashley's granddaughter, Ruth, embroidered this family history on the sack in spare, haunting language. That, in itself, is a story. But it's not the whole story.

How does one uncover the lives of people who, in their day, were considered property? Harvard historian Tiya Miles carefully traces these women's faint presence in archival records, and, where archives fall short, she turns to objects, art, and the environment to write a singular history of the experience of slavery and the uncertain freedom afterward.

All That She Carried gives us history as it was lived, a poignant story of resilience and love passed down against steep odds.

Weight: 338g
Dimension: 197 x 130 x 27 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781800818217
Edition number: Main