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Adult Book Discussion at Lawrence

Join us in-person for our next book discussion. We will discuss “All That She Carried the Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake” by Tiya Miles (2021).

All That She Carried is available as a print book, a large print book, an e-book, and as a downloadable audiobook in The Library’s collection. Several print copies will be available at the Lawrence Branch Adult Reference Desk.

"Sitting in the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture is a rough cotton bag, called "Ashley's Sack," embroidered with just a handful of words that evoke a sweeping family story of loss and of love passed down through generations. In 1850s South Carolina, just before nine-year-old Ashley was sold, her mother, Rose, gave her a sack filled with just a few things as a token of her love. Decades later, Ashley's granddaughter, Ruth, embroidered this history on the bag--including Rose's message that "It be filled with my Love always." Historian Tiya Miles carefully follows faint archival traces back to Charleston to find Rose in the kitchen where she may have packed the sack for Ashley."

Subject & Genre

Ashley (Enslaved person in South Carolina)
Women slaves — South Carolina — Biography
Mothers and daughters
Women slaves — Southern States — Social conditions — 19th century
African American women — Family relationships

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