Book review: What you need to know about a South Carolina slavery keepsake that ended up in the Smithsonian
All That She Carried: The journey of Ashley’s sack, a black family keepsake is a story of resistence against all odds.
It was penned by Harvard Professor Tiya Miles and tells how in the 1850s an enslaved South Carolina girl Ashley, 9, was sold away from her mother Rose.
The life story was published by Penguin Random House last year and named the National Book Awards 2021 Nonfiction winner.
So read on to find out more about the book, what makes it so interesting and what we can glean to inspire our own life-story projects …
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What is All That She Carried about?
All That She Carried tells how Rose packed Ashley’s sack with survival items.
This included: a tattered dress, three handfuls of pecans, a braid of her hair plus “my love always”.
Most importantly Ashley survived and the story was embroidered onto the sack by her granddaughter Ruth in 1921.
After that the sack was ‘discovered’ at a flea market in 2007 and ended up displayed at the Smithsonian National Museum in 2016.
"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" — Embroidery on Ashley’s sack, owned by Middleton Place House Museum
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What makes this book interesting?
Personally I learnt so much from reading All That She Carried about American slavery.
For example, how it had been ‘normal’ for hundreds of years, how little enslaved people had to eat or dress themselves and how family groups rarely stayed intact.
Second, an object like a simple cotton sack could indeed be the canvas for a powerful life story.
Also that today’s push to confront climate change is similar to society’s push to end slavery in the 1860s.
“The history of Africans in America is brutal, but we have made art out of pain, sustaining our spirits with sunbursts of beauty, teaching ourselves how to rise the next day.”
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Learnings from All That She Carried
Indeed there are many life-story takeaways from All That She Carried.
Firstly, the power places and objects, like the sack, have to impart stories and memories through time.
Also, that gaps in memory and history are not dead ends but opportunities to explore what might be true.
In addition how Miles uses themes – notably the theme of love – to trace and connect the stories of the three women.
“Without Ruth, there would be no record. Without her record, there would be no history. Ruth’s act of creation mirrored that of her great-grandmother Rose. Through her embroidery, Ruth ensured that the valiance of discounted women would be recalled and embraced as a treasured inheritance.”
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Final say: All That She Carried
All That She Carried by Tiya Miles is a heartbreaking story four generations in the making.
In short, it is a tale of loss, luck and love forged from the depths of slavery 170 years ago.
So seek out this life story if you want to know more about the power of family bonds, female strength and enslaved communities.
Certainly it is an illuminating read guaranteed to touch your heart.
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Your say
Do you have a special family keepsake? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Send me an email or leave a reply in the comments section at the end of this article.
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