Winner of the 2021 National Book Award in nonfiction, All That She Carried dives deeply into the history of a single object: a cotton sack embroidered with a few deceptively simple lines.
My great grandmother Rose
mother of Ashley gave her this sack when
she was sold at age 9 in South Carolina
it held a tattered dress 3 handfulls of
pecans a braid of Roses hair. Told her
It be filled with my Love always
she never saw her again
Ashley is my grandmother
Ruth Middleton
1921
From the sparse information contained in these carefully embroidered lines, author Tiya Miles opens up the potential worlds of Ashley, Ruth, and Rose. Her analysis of the sack reveals what we can and can’t know about the past, particularly of Black individuals who were brought here by force and enslaved.
Program copies can be picked up at Main Library's Adult Services desk. Please stop by the Adult Services desk or call 317.814.3988 to ask about availability before placing a hold in the catalog. Registration is required for this event.
Discover more programs in the One State/One Story series that are taking place at the Carmel Clay Public Library.
This special event is presented as part of the One State/One Story program, which helps communities come together to talk about a shared story. One State/One Story: All That She Carried is presented by Indiana Humanities in partnership with the Indiana Center for the Book and the Indiana State Library as part of Indiana Humanities’ Advancing Racial Equity Project, supported by Lilly Endowment.
Hoosiers are invited to join in the statewide reads of All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles as part of Indiana Humanities’ Advancing Racial Equity project, which supports discussions of history and memory and how engaging with our past can help us understand contemporary injustices and strive for racial equity. The Advancing Racial Equity Project aims to further conversations about the past, present, and future of racial justice and injustice in Indiana through engagement with the humanities. The project provides support for public-serving organizations to diversify circulating collections, resources for organizations to host conversations about racial equity and the experiences of Black Hoosiers, and learning opportunities for humanities professionals and community members to deepen their understanding of the progress and challenges on the journey to racial equity.
