Acknowledgements
This book would never have been completed without the support and love of many people. Jeannette Stokes of the Resource Center for Women and Ministry in the South became a mentor who never lost faith in me, and patiently answered my endless questions. Carol Henderson’s writing workshops gave me the courage to step into the light and share my story. Melanie S. Morrison, a friend of many years who was traveling a similar path in research and writing, encouraged me to continue my work.
A very special thank-you goes to Zelma and Dwight Eudy of Stanly County, who invited me to family reunions, where I was introduced to my Burris family and to Dwight’s delicious down-home cooking and exquisite peach cobbler. David D. Almond’s book The Lynching of Alec Whitley provided a starting point for my research. Brenda Combs and Pam Holbrook are family members who provided information about our genealogy and family connections. Linda McIntyre and Jo Stallings Short were of great assistance in piecing together much of the genealogy of the Tucker and Whitley family trees.
I want to thank the many women who generously took the time to read early drafts of this manuscript and were kind and gentle with their constructive critiques: Nancy Peacock, Betty Morton, Carole Jones, Marylin Hervieux, Barb Smalley, Joanne Abel, Donna Giles, and Laurel Ferejohn.
I am grateful for the endless love and support from the women in my family. Although my mother, Edna Barbee Hartsell, was no longer living during this production, her legacy of love and determination was the deep well I visited daily as I remembered our conversations. Frances Hartsell Caudle, my big sister, travelled with me to many locations in Stanly County visited in this story. My niece Lynne Caudle Joyce, whose patience and encouragement lifted my spirits, reminded me that there was a reason to get this right.
Thanks to the many librarians in the Stanly County Public Library and the North Carolina State Archives whose endless patience and assistance led to the discovery of a family legacy recorded and preserved in the fragile pages of court documents stored under their care.
The excellent services of my editor, Ginny Ruths at Touchstone Publications, brought order to a complex narrative.
I am ever so grateful to my dear friend and artist extraordinaire Sue Sneddon; her design and illustration of the Family Chart brilliantly distill the intricacies of relationships of this story into a focused and beautiful masterpiece.
A special thanks to Laurie Fuchs, my partner in life, for the numerous times she edited early drafts, and shared her wise insights about history, politics and publishing. Her unwavering support keeps me afloat when I become entangled in the words.