The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation

The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation

Stories of My Family's Journey to Freedom

    • 4.6 • 5 Ratings
    • $14.99
    • $14.99

Publisher Description

When John F. Baker Jr. was in the seventh grade, he saw a photograph of four former slaves in his social studies textbook—two of them were his grandmother's grandparents. He began the lifelong research project that would become The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation, the fruit of more than thirty years of archival and field research and DNA testing spanning 250 years.

A descendant of Wessyngton slaves, Baker has written the most accessible and exciting work of African American history since Roots. He has not only written his own family's story but included the history of hundreds of slaves and their descendants now numbering in the thousands throughout the United States. More than one hundred rare photographs and portraits of African Americans who were slaves on the plantation bring this compelling American history to life.

Founded in 1796 by Joseph Washington, a distant cousin of America's first president, Wessyngton Plantation covered 15,000 acres and held 274 slaves, whose labor made it the largest tobacco plantation in America. Atypically, the Washingtons sold only two slaves, so the slave families remained intact for generations. Many of their descendants still reside in the area surrounding the plantation. The Washington family owned the plantation until 1983; their family papers, housed at the Tennessee State Library and Archives, include birth registers from 1795 to 1860, letters, diaries, and more. Baker also conducted dozens of interviews—three of his subjects were more than one hundred years old—and discovered caches of historic photographs and paintings.

A groundbreaking work of history and a deeply personal journey of discovery, The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation is an uplifting story of survival and family that gives fresh insight into the institution of slavery and its ongoing legacy today.

GENRE
History
RELEASED
2009
February 3
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
432
Pages
PUBLISHER
Atria Books
SELLER
Simon & Schuster Digital Sales LLC
SIZE
7
MB
Forbidden Fruit Forbidden Fruit
2005
In Search of the Promised Land In Search of the Promised Land
2005
A Stronger Kinship A Stronger Kinship
2009
Sweet Taste of Liberty Sweet Taste of Liberty
2019
Anna Madgigine Jai Kingsley Anna Madgigine Jai Kingsley
2010
The Weeping Time The Weeping Time
2017
Life's Healing Choices Revised and Updated Life's Healing Choices Revised and Updated
2008
Celebrate Recovery Daily Devotional Celebrate Recovery Daily Devotional
2013
Celebrate Recovery Updated Leader's Guide Celebrate Recovery Updated Leader's Guide
2009
NIV, Celebrate Recovery Study Bible NIV, Celebrate Recovery Study Bible
2016
Stepping Out of Denial into God's Grace Participant's Guide 1 Stepping Out of Denial into God's Grace Participant's Guide 1
2016
NIV, Celebrate Recovery, eBook NIV, Celebrate Recovery, eBook
2014
The Redemption of Bobby Love The Redemption of Bobby Love
2021
From Holocaust to Harvard From Holocaust to Harvard
2014
The Survivors The Survivors
2019
A Short History of Women A Short History of Women
2009
And If I Perish And If I Perish
2003
Black Potatoes Black Potatoes
2014