Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
In homespun words, strong-minded Rice, born in 1909 in rural Alabama, bears witness to her hard life as a black woman. Warm and pleasantly meandering, this oral autobiography tells of her large, devoutly religious family, her schooling, marriages, work as a maid in the homes of whites in Florida and later as a teacher: ``Just to think that from my grandfather not being able to read or write, or his wife either, and coming up from slavery, all this family grew.'' Rice's comments on social and racial issues, especially when based directly on her experiences as an employee of white families, are instructive; sensitive yet objective, she proves able to reckon with differences, not just take sides. She seems always to say exactly what she means. With the aid of Westling ( Sacred Groves and Ravaged Gardens ), Rice makes a welcome contribution to the informal history of black Americans. (Nov.)
He Included Me: The Autobiography of Sarah Rice
by Sarah RiceView All Available Formats & Editions
A rare first-person account of life in the twentieth-century South, He Included Me weaves together the story of a black family—eight children reared in rural Alabama, their mother a schoolteacher, their father a minister—and the emerging self-portrait of a woman determined, like her parents, to look ahead.
Sarah Rice recalls her mother's hymn of
… See more details belowOverview
A rare first-person account of life in the twentieth-century South, He Included Me weaves together the story of a black family—eight children reared in rural Alabama, their mother a schoolteacher, their father a minister—and the emerging self-portrait of a woman determined, like her parents, to look ahead.
Sarah Rice recalls her mother's hymn of thanks—"He Included Me"—when God showed her a way to feed her family, and hears again her mother's quiet words, "It's no disgrace to work. It's an honor to make an honest dollar," spoken when her children were embarrassed that she took in white people's laundry. Rice speaks, finally, of the determination, faith, and pride that carried her through life.
In a document that spans more than three-quarters of the twentieth century, He Included Me presents the voice of a single woman whose life was rich in complexity, deep in suffering and joy; yet it also speaks for the many black women who have worked and struggled in the rural South and always looked ahead.
Editorial Reviews
Library Journal
Now in her 80s, Rice has spent her life in the deep South. As a girl, she lived in small rural towns or on farms, as her father worked as an itinerant AME minister. As an adult, Rice labored at the jobs available in the South to a black woman with some education: as a teacher in segregated schools; as a domestic in white households; as a worker on an airforce base during World War II. This oral history, artfully edited by Louise Westling, allows Rice to speak for herself, describing life in rural Alabama, her life as a school teacher, her two failed marriages, and, finally, the happiness she achieved with her third husband. Viewing her life with a sharp intelligence, always frank, compassionate, and informed by a deep religious faith, Rice offers an autobiography that often reads with the narrative sweep of a novel. For both larger public libraries and history and African-American collections in academic libraries.-- Ann H. Sullivan, Tompkins-Cortland Community Coll., Dryden, N.Y.
Product Details
- ISBN-13:
- 9780820349787
- Publisher:
- University of Georgia Press
- Publication date:
- 02/01/2016
- Series:
- Brown Thrasher Books Series
- Pages:
- 200
- Product dimensions:
- 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)