Maritcha
A Nineteenth-Century American Girl
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- €8.99
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- €8.99
Publisher Description
Discover the remarkable story of a free Black girl born during the days of slavery in this Coretta Scott King Honor Award-winning picture book
“To do the best for myself with the view of making the best of myself,” wrote Maritcha Rémond Lyons (1848—1929) about her childhood.
Based on an unpublished memoir written by Lyons, who was born and raised in New York City, this poignant story tells what it was like to be a Black child born free during the days of slavery. Everyday experiences are interspersed with notable moments, such as a visit to the first world’s fair held in the United States. Also included are the Draft Riots of 1863, during which Maritcha and her siblings fled to Brooklyn while her parents stayed behind to protect their Manhattan home. The book concludes with her fight to attend a whites-only high school in Providence, Rhode Island, and her victory of being the first Black graduate.
The evocative text, photographs, and archival material make this book an invaluable cultural and historical resource. Maritcha brings to life the story of a very ordinary—yet remarkable—girl of nineteenth-century America.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bolden (The Champ, reviewed above) lucidly relays the illuminating life history of Maritcha R mond Lyons, born a free black in 1848 in lower Manhattan. The author draws her biographical sketch primarily from Lyons's unpublished memoir, dated one year before her death in 1929. Bolden uses research about the period to speculate about what chores Maritcha may have performed and games she may have played, and recaps Lyons's descriptions of some of the highlights of her childhood and family history (including her grandmother's memory of the day Frederick Douglass visited the family home) as well as of her role models, including her parents, whose boardinghouse (which catered to black sailors) also served as a stop on the Underground Railroad. One of the strongest sections of the book documents the Draft Riots (protests against a military draft during the Civil War) of July 1868, and the impact of them on Maritcha and other citizens: their home was vandalized and looted, and the family relocated to Rhode Island. There Maritcha successfully petitioned the state legislature for permission to attend Providence High School, from which she was the first black student to graduate. A concluding note summarizes her adult life as a highly respected educator and orator, while elegantly framed family photos and clearly reproduced archival drawings and maps make for a handsome presentation. An illuminating life story. Ages 5-9.
