 To celebrate the January 6, 2026, paperback release of my novel for young readers, Mama's Chicken & Dumplings, I've just drawn the recipient of my classroom-set giveaway, which includes 10 paperback copies and one hardback copy of my book, all signed. I can't wait to hear if the students enjoy reading it! Thanks to all the Virginia school librarians who entered!
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 Visiting Charlottesville, Virginia? May I suggest that you and yours treat yourself to a self-guided Mama's Chicken & Dumplings Walking Tour? Pack a lunch, don on your comfy shoes, and get ready to be inspired by Charlottesville's rich African American history while imagining you're Allie on a West Main Street adventure!  Stay at a hotel located on the ground that once was the Vinegar Hill neighborhood. There are three: Omni Charlottesville Hotel, Residence Inn by Marriot Charlottesville Downtown Mall and The Doyle Hotel. Walk through the Staples parking lot located on Ridge Street and imagine you're walking down streets of Vinegar Hill like Third St. NW and Williams St., just like Allie did when visiting her best friend Jewel.  Cross Fourth St. NW, and tour The Jefferson School Heritage Center. It's located inside the building that once was the "New Jefferson School," where African American kids attended grades 6-12 in Allie's day. Arrange for a guided tour if you have time. From the Jefferson School Heritage Center, walk down Commerce Street to 6th Street NW to get a feel for the historic Starr Hill neighborhood where Rebecca Fuller McGinness and Nannie Cox Jackson (namesakes for Allie's teachers) once lived. On the corner of Commerce and 6th St, NW, on the left, you will see the historic J. F. Bell Funeral Home still operated by descendants of the original funeral director, John Ferris Bell. Allie mentions Mr. Bell along with Dr. Stratton, who practiced in the Starr Hill neighborhood, as transporting Jewel's ailing grandfather to the basement ward located within the University of Virginia hospital.  Walk down 4th St. NW From the Jefferson School Heritage Center to the corner of West Main Street. The building on the left is a fine-dining restaurant that once housed George Pinkney Inge's grocery store called The Tavern & Grocery. Allie and her friend Jewel love to run down to Mr. Inge's grocery store to buy Mary Jane penny candies.  From there, walk east, cross over Preston Ave. and walk down Charlottesville's Historic Downtown Mall. Imagine Allie and her Mama back-to-school shopping at Woolworth's Five & Dime (then located at 204 East Main Street), and Tilman's Department Store (then located at 310 East Main Street). While on the pedestrian mall, be sure to check out the Third Street entrance of The Paramount Theater where Allie watched films with her family. You can arrange for a tour of the Paramount to get an inside look. It's a gorgeous place.  From the Downtown Mall, walk to Market Street and gander at the portico of the central branch of Jefferson Madison Regional Library. There you'll see that the building once contained the U.S. postal office. It's where Allie mails her letters to Jewel after Jewel moves to Chicago. (Check out the Swanson historic plaque, which tells the story of the first Black man who sued to be admitted to UVa's law school and won the case.) Pop around the corner and look inside the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society. (In Allie's day, this building was the library for European Americans only. Allie's library was housed inside her school.) You can schedule an ACHS guided walking tour highlighting local African American history.  Next, take the University of Virginia's Free Trolley from downtown Charlottesville to the grounds of the university. Along the way, you'll see the historic First Baptist Church located at the corner of West Main and 7th Street NW. This is where Allie worships with her mother. As you turn onto The Corner, look to your left and spy the building that housed the university's hospital in the 30s. It was in the basement ward where Jewel's grandfather gets treatment. While on the grounds, be sure to do UVa's Black History Self-Guided Walking Tour. It's truly inspiring.  Finally, and you may want to get an Uber for this, visit the park that's now Booker T. Washington Park. Read the historic marker that explains how In Allie's day, Washington Park was considered a "colored" park established with donated funds given to the city by Paul Goodoe McIntire. Allie's mom works for a fictional Mrs. McIntire who lives on Preston Ave. Please let me know in the comments below what you and yours thought of your Mama's Chicken & Dumplings Walking Tour!  A West Main Street adventure set in 1935 Vinegar Hill, a once thriving African American neighborhood that was razed by the city of Charlottesville in the 60s.  Phil Larish, owner of Commerce Street Books, located on West Main St. in Charlottesville. In September, I read an article about a new Charlottesville indie opened by Phil Lorish named Commerce Street Books. They were having a 3-day grand opening with events involving cheese, wine, donuts, and (of course) authors and books. I was super excited to discover that this new indie opened its doors at 499 West Main Street. In other words, it's located smack dab in the middle of where my book, Mama's Chicken & Dumplings, is set (albeit a 90-year difference)! Of course, I had to check it out. Wowsa! What a place! First of all, it's located inside the Doyle Hotel--a gorgeous boutique hotel with rooftop dining. Commerce Street Books is beyond the hotel lobby, past a beautiful seating area, and down the steps on the left. It's a full-of-light bookstore with art, cubbies full of interesting items, cozy places to sit and read, and a wide selection of books. Its chic and modern decor perfectly matches the vibe of the hotel.  Doyle Hotel lobby area. Phil was manning the register when I placed a MG read for my beach trip, Misfits: A Royal Conundrum written by Lisa Yee and illustrated by Dan Santat, on the counter. I decided to mention that I was the author of a traditionally published novel for kids that is in fact a West Main Street adventure with Vinegar Hill as its setting. Might he perhaps like to add it to his shelf? Of course, Phil knew about Vinegar Hill's history, and so inquired about the title of my book. To my surprise and delight, Phil had already purchased at least one copy of Mama's Chicken & Dumplings! Of this I know because he promptly left the counter, located my book amongst others featuring Charlottesville, and faced it out! I couldn't believe it! There it was just a few books down from Rita Dove's collection of poems. How cool is that?! I had to ask Phil how he came to purchase Mama's Chicken & Dumplings. How had he heard about it? Though he couldn't recall exactly, having had purchased so many books to ready his new store for opening, he guessed he stumbled across my book while doing an internet search for books featuring Charlottesville.  Hurray for SEO and indie booksellers who handpick titles! Anyhooo, just wanted to share my I-spy-with-my-little-eye moment. And to say that if you happen to be in Charlottesville, VA, anytime soon, be sure to check out Phil's brand new West Main Street business, Commerce Street Books. It's a stone's throw away from the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, and steps away from Charlottesville Historic Downtown Mall!  Happy to share that MAMA'S CHICKEN & DUMPLINGS has gotten some kidlit love lately! The Children's Book Council selected it as a 2025 Librarian's Favorite Award. (Complete list HERE.) The Black Caucus of the American Library Association listed it as a 2024 Best of the Best Books for Kids! (Complete list HERE.) The Children's Book Committee of the Bank Street College of Education named it a 2025 Best Children's Book of the Year. (Download the pdf HERE.) And for the icing on the chocolate cake, the Virginia Library Association has placed it on their 2025 Cardinal Cup Overfloweth list! (Complete list HERE.)  Being a rewriter more than anything else, I’d become used to applying the advice “Kill your darlings.” In fact, while writing Mama’s Chicken and Dumplings, my debut novel for young readers, Delete, Cut, and Trash had been my chairside friends for ten (count them TEN) years. My attempts to get this story right, one revised page atop another, could likely reach the Space Station! So you can imagine, I was in no mood to murder any more darlings once Margaret Ferguson Books offered to acquire it. And yet, there I was, a contract before me with the caveat: You're willing to revise, yes? And so there I sat with the Revision Guillotine above my words yet again. And the first beloved darling on the chopping block was the story’s setting of 1941 on the South Side of Chicago (after my main character’s move from Harlem).  My setting was precious because I was born on the South Side, and it's where my parents grew up. My opening scene is even based on a South Side recollection of my mother's, and I had scattered other scenes based on stories my parents had shared with me about growing up on the South Side throughout my yarn. The setting also gave me an excuse to research Chicago's African American history, which I really enjoyed. It brought me great satisfaction resurrecting the glitz and glamour that once was 47th Street—the business heartbeat of the South Side.  S niff-sniff… rest in peace 1941 Chicago—see you in another manuscript. Though murdering my setting caused me a great deal of mourning, I was able to keep its essence by replacing it with another thriving African American community, albeit a smaller, Southern one located within Charlottesville, Virginia, called Vinegar Hill. The year 1941 became 1935, but only because I wanted to keep a scene involving a kid “flipping” a streetcar (AKA—riding on the back by hanging onto the outside rails), and Charlottesville’s streetcar service stopped in 1935. And you know what? Despite the labor pain of having to research a new cityscape of the past, I came to love my new setting even more than my old one! I loved the small-town Southern city feel. I loved learning about the real people who lived in Vinegar Hill and who persevered despite the times for the love and sake of its children. I loved that I could walk down some of the same streets my character would have walked. Vinegar Hill absolutely suited my storyline which follows a ten-year-old on a quest to find her mama a husband with a Man-for-Mama plan in one hand and a jar of chicken and dumplings in the other. And by not having my main character move from one city to another, her conflict with her NOT-friend Gwen could be moved up in the plotline. True, there was a domino-plot-effect with my setting change. It required the reconstruction of nearly the entire novel! Truth told, the work it took to get it done left me pulling at my afro, and yelling at my computer. But now that my rewrite of my rewrite of my rewrite times more rewrites has finally been written and published, I am glad I listened to the sage advice to kill my darlings. Because what remains, I hope, is a story rich with emotional depth, a plot that is logical, and a main character that kids will love. Isn’t that’s what being a writer, er, rewriter is all about? We murder our darlings for the sake of the story. All photos are from 1941 Chicago found in the American Memory digital archive curated by he Library of Congress. The photographer was Edwin Rosskam who worked for the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information . Jefferson School, Charlottesville, Virginia Left to right, (front row) Margaret L. Terry, Maude M. Gamble (principal) and Cora B. Duke; (second row) Ella J. Banks, Rebecca Fuller McGinness, Peachie Carr Johnson, Mary Kathleen Chisholm, Carrie W. Michie, and Gertrude Inge; (third row) Nannie Cox Jackson, Marion B. Wyatt, Jane C. Johnson, and Helen E. Jackson. I love the above picture so much! It's of the faculty of Jefferson School in Charlottesville, Virginia, during the era of segregation, taken as best I could figure during the 1926-7 school year. To me, the image is absolutely beautiful for many reasons. For one, I love the dignity, confidence, and determination these women project on camera. And it's no illusion! They were dignified, confident, and determined on many levels, despite the harsh racial conditions of the times. I found it easy to imagine the African American men of the local area tipping their hats in courtesy as these ladies walked by. My imaginings made me want to write a scene in my middle-grade Mama's Chicken & Dumplings where a gentleman of Vinegar Hill tips his hat out of respect for Allie's best friend, Jewel, while she walks by pretending to be as sophisticated as the ladies in the above image, despite Jewel being only ten years old.  Isabella Gibbons The history of Jefferson School in Charlottesville stretches back to right after the Civil War ended and all those with African descent were freed from the institution of slavery. Anna Gardner, an educator with European decent from Nantucket, an island in Massachusetts, arrived in Charlottesville around 1867. She opened a New England Aid Society's Normal School, which prepared men and women for the task of teaching the newly freed citizens of the area. Later, the school became a Freedmen’s School under the direction of the Freedmen's Bureau. Anna named her group of students the Jefferson School. One of the first teachers of color at Jefferson School was Isabella Gibbons who had once been enslaved at the University of Virginia. Despite the law of the times, Gibbons had learned to read and write beautifully, and had taught her daughter Bella to do the same. Isabella's husband William Gibbons could also read and write. He became a well-respected Baptist minister after Freedom came. Jefferson School became a public school of the City of Charlottesville in 1871. Benjamin E. Tonsler was one of the school's earliest principals. He was a beloved member of the community. Many graduates from Jefferson School attended historically Black colleges and universities like Hampton University, and obtained degrees in all types of disciplines, including those in medicine, engineering, and science, even though they had to complete their high school studies outside of Charlottesville since Jefferson School graduated students after the eighth grade.  Rebecca Fuller McGinness The name I chose for Allie's fifth grade teacher was Mrs. McGinness. I chose it out of respect for Rebecca Fuller McGinness, a tireless educator who spent decades teaching at Jefferson School. If you examine the oral histories of those who attended Jefferson School as students, the name Mrs. McGinness often comes up. They mention her as a teacher who inspired them to achieve their personal best. Mrs. McGinness was a graduate of Jefferson School before there was a high school. She finished her studies at Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, now Hampton University, graduating from there with her teaching certification in 1915, and later a bachelor's degree. When she was 100, Hampton gave her an honorary doctorate degree. Mrs. McGinness lived to the ripe age of 107.  Cora [Murray Brown] Duke While I named Allie's principal Mr. Duncan, the real Mr. Duncan--Owen Duncan-- was the principal of Jefferson High School in the 1940s. In 1935, the year Mama's Chicken & Dumplings takes place, Cora B. Duke was the principal of the "Old" Jefferson School--the one that housed grades one through five. Mrs. Duke was known as a woman who put the students' needs ahead of her own. When she retired, the school community threw her a grand celebration thanking her for her educational leadership and community involvement. Doesn't she look grand in her feathered hat in the photo taken in 1915 at the Holsinger Portrait Studio located in Charlottesville? Indeed! After the building to house Jefferson's junior and high school grades opened on the same campus as the older building in 1927, extracurricular activities for the African-American youth of Charlottesville began to thrive. There was a debate team, science club, marching band, literary clubs, a choir, a dramatic club, and more. For years, Jefferson School's after-school groups were well-known throughout the state as being top performing. They competed against other African American schools located throughout Virginia. Below is the undefeated "Red Devils" football team of 1935. I really enjoyed imagining Allie playing the flute in the Jefferson School band, vying for first chair.  From left to right, (front row) Charles L. Jackson, Lloyd Quarterman, Billy "Goat" Lewis, John Locket, William "Shortie" Brown, Carter "Red" Wicks, Earl "Cap" Fortune, Alfred Bynum, Bernard Dabney; (second row) DuBois Johnson, Raleigh Kelly, William Cox Jackson, Charles "Chink" Lee, Grover Henderson, Carl Johnson, Phillip Sellers, Carol Allen; (third row) Nannie Henderson, Thomas Martin, Edward McCreavy, Beverly "Pep" Thomas; and (standing) Team Physician Edward W. Stratton and Coach James "Wop" Edgar. The African American community of Charlottesville supported Jefferson School's extra curricular activities by hosting fundraisers, purchasing transportation, and by donating their time and resources. Nannie Cox Jackson was a huge supporter of the football team. The education and edification of the young ones growing up in the neighborhood was obviously important to the adults living in the once thriving African American community of Charlottesville during the unfair days of Jim Crow. It was my privilege to share that spirit of togetherness while writing Mama's Chicken & Dumplings. Photo Credits 1. Jefferson School yearbook photo. Found in Pride Overcomes Prejudice: A History of Charlottesville’s African American School. Charlottesville, VA: Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, 2013, p. 75. 2. Isabella Gibbons. Found in "Isabella Gibbons." Cvillepedia, accessed August 14, 2023. 3. Rebecca Fuller McGinness 1915 Hampton yearbook photo from the collection of the Hampton University Archives, Hampton, VA. Found in Elizabeth Howard Papers, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia. 4. Cora Murray Duke. Photo: Rufus W. Holsinger, 1915. Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia, Rufus W. Holsinger Studio Collection: MSS Call No. 9862, Image ID: 35479, Negative No., X02970A, accessed August 13. 2023. 5. Jefferson [High] School 1935 Undefeated Football Team Photograph. Photo: Rufus W. Holsinger, 1935. Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library Holsinger Collection, UVA Library ID: Y21177BB2, accessed March 13, 2023.
Selected Bibliography Bryant, Florence Coleman. Rebecca Fuller McGinness: A Lifetime, 1892-2000. Charlottesville, VA: Van Doren Company, 2001. CVillepedia. “Cora Murray Duke.” Accessed August 13, 2023. Daughters of Zion Cemetery. "Tonsler, Benjamin E." Accessed August 13, 2023. Discovery Virginia. “In the Fullness of Time.” Elizabeth Howard Productions. Narrated by Rita Dove. Virginia Humanities Digital Archive, 2004, accessed December 25, 2022. Douglas, Andrea, editor. Pride Overcomes Prejudice: A History of Charlottesville’s African American School. Charlottesville, VA: Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, 2013. Douglas, Andrea and Vincent Musi. “The Jefferson School, a Modern American Story.” LOOK3 2015 Charlottesville Festival of the Photograph presentation, accessed July 31, 2023. Finger, Jascin Leonardo. “Anna Gardner (1816-1901): Teacher, Abolitionist, Women’s Rights Advocate, Author.” Nantucket Historical Society, accessed March 14, 2023. "Funeral of Rev. William Gibbons." National Republican, July 2, 1886, Newspapers.com, accessed August 20, 2023. Jefferson High School Football Team Item Details. Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library Holsinger Collection, UVA, accessed August 13, 2023. Jefferson School City Center. “Jefferson School History.” Accessed March 15, 2023. Jefferson School Oral History Project: Interview Transcripts, Volume One. Albemarle County Historical Society, October 2004, accessed December 25, 2022. Jefferson School Oral History Project: Interview Transcripts, Volume Two. Albemarle County Historical Society, October 2004, accessed December 25, 2022. Jefferson School Student Handbook. Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia, Call No.: LD7501.C4J39. Mangione, Wilma T., Editor. “Recollections of Rebecca McGinness.” From Porch Swings to Patios: An Oral History Project of Charlottesville Neighborhoods, 1914-1980. The City of Charlottesville, 1990, accessed December 25, 2022. Munro, Julia F. “Cora Murray.” Holsinger Portrait Project, University of Virginia, February 25, 2022, accessed August 13, 2023. Successful Business Owners George Minor Carr The photograph of the above storefront was taken on November 16, 1914. Peek inside and you will see George Minor Carr (1882-1933), shop owner and operator of George M. Carr & Company, just one of many businesses located in Vinegar Hill, a thriving African American residential and business district of Charlottesville, Virginia, that was razed in the 1960s. True, Mr. Carr's establishment at 269 West Main Street was a second-hand clothing store. But as you can tell from the fine feathered hats for women in the storefront window, and the men's suits hanging inside that it was no rinky-dink establishment. It was someplace African American men and women of the era could purchase clothing to look their finest when walking about town. And how distinguished they looked when posing for a photograph at the Holsinger Portrait Studio! We know from the J.F. Bell Funereal Home records that George Carr's father, David Carr, had been born in Africa, and that his mother Elnora Garland Carr was born in Virginia. We also discover that George's wife's name was Virginia May Carr. Mr. Carr passed away In 1933. Virginia Carr obviously kept the doors of her husband's business open after his death, for she was listed in the 1934 city director as operating a second-hand clothing store at 265 West Main Street.  Anthony and Eileen Buckner On August 12, 1918, Anthony T. Buckner (1846-1923) commissioned the above portrait to be taken with his nine-year-old granddaughter Eileen Wood Buckner (1909-1985). When I learned Eileen's mother, Geneva Tonsler Buckner (1886-1919), would die from tuberculosis a year later on August 29, 1919, while being admitted to the Piedmont Sanitorium in Burkeville, Virginia, it made me wonder: Was Eileen's mother ill when this photo was taken? Was that the reason Mr. Buckner had the photograph made? Surely, an ailing mother would greatly appreciate having a copy of this lovely image. Another thing I wondered was how, as a young man, Mr. Buckner endured physically, emotionally, and mentally while serving as an enslaved body servant to Mr. Fife, a Confederate soldier, during the Civil War. What I do know is he survived, and once Freedom came, after working just a few years at the University of Virginia, he had saved enough money to open up a successful general store and grocery at 904 West Main Street in Charlottesville--a fine establishment that remained open until his death in 1923. How inspiring to see him standing there so tall, refined, and dignified, despite being a survivor of such enduring times! "Buckner had made a host of friends for himself during his long sojourn in the community and was especially liked by the residents in the University section. Many had formed the custom of stopping in to converse with him as a token of their esteem and the high place he had won for himself." *Mr. Buckner had five children with his wife, Louisa E. (1860-1909)--three girls and two boys. Unfortunately, all but two of them died when they were very young children. Only his son George Walker Buckner (1886-1928) lived well into adulthood. George, Eileen's father, grew up in Charlottesville. He attended college, and obtained degrees from Hampton Institute and the Virginia Union University. He worked as a teacher, and economics and sociology instructor at the Tuskegee Institute. Later, he remarried and worked for the National League on Urban Conditions, and then served as the vice president and manager of the People's Finance Corporation in St. Louis, Missouri. George caused quite a local stir when he wrote an opinion piece entitled "The New Negro" in the February 12, 1921 edition of The Charlottesville Messenger, an African American newspaper. In it he demanded better pay for African-American teachers and the desegregation of streetcars in Charlottesville, among other things. He wrote: "We are tax payers and law abiding citizens. We know our strength and will accept nothing short of justice."  Inge's Grocery  George P. Inge In 1890, George Pinkney Inge (1859-1948) purchased the building and lot located at 331-333 West Main Street for $3,000, and in 1891 he opened his grocery store when West Main Street was nothing but a dirt road. Despite being born into the institution of slavery, Mr. Inge graduated from Hampton Institute in 1879. For a few years, he taught at Jefferson School in Charlottesville. Mr. Inge's grocery store was known throughout Charlottesville as a fine establishment. His patrons included the hospital of the University of Virginia, professors of the University, the Gleason Hotel, boarding houses, and fraternities. His store was the only supplier of fresh fish and oysters in the city, which were delivered by way of the C & O Railroad. Small game caught by local hunters; vegetables from the Inge's gardens, and eggs and poultry from their chickens were also sold there. Before the Model T came along, the Inges delivered their produce using a horse-and-buggy. Children loved to purchase penny candy and five-cent ginger snaps from the glass jars sitting on the store's shelves. My main character's favorite thing to purchase at Mr. Inge's store is Mary Jane candies.  Inge's Grocery Mr. Inge and his wife Kate Virginia (Ferguson) Inge (1864-1941) had nine children. They raised them in living quarters attached to the store and required them to pitch in and help run the business. Often, African American visitors to Charlottesville found lodging at the Inges' home. The children often spoke about their father's friend and former Hampton classmate, Booker T. Washington, who stayed with the family whenever the educator and speaker came through Charlottesville. He was one of the Inges' most famous guests. The Inge children all had successful careers. Three of his daughters were teachers. His sons' occupations included: an educator and high school principal in Texas, a biology department head at Hampton Institute, a New Jersey State Senator, a realtor, and two physicians. Thomas Ferguson Inge, Sr. (1903-1993) ran the store until 1979 along with his son, Thomas Ferguson Inge, Jr.  Nannie Cox Jackson  Viola Green Porter For decades, Nannie Cox Jackson (1865-1953) was an inspiring domestic science (home economics) teacher at Jefferson School. She taught her students--boys and girls--how to cook, sew, crochet, and knit so they could live respectably and independently. How proud Mrs. Jackson's students must have been to be able to design and sew their own dresses like the eighth-grade graduation dress Viola Green Porter (1898-1985) is seen wearing in the photograph to the right. Mrs. Jackson had a big and generous heart. She ensured that every child at Jefferson School had a hot meal for lunch. She even helped establish the first hot lunch program within the city's public schools. During segregation, Mrs. Jackson was a huge supporter of Jefferson School's football team. She helped them acquire uniforms and provided them with transportation to and from practice and away games using a truck owned by her family's business. After home games, she fed both teams, their coaches and doctors a hearty meal that began with soup. A favorite menu item on the dinner plate was Mrs. Jackson's homemade meatballs.  William E. "Billpost" Jackson, Jr. Besides being known as an educator, Mrs. Jackson was known throughout Charlottesville as a landlord who took care of her property, and who rented at rates African American families just starting out could afford. According to some, at her death, her estate was worth a million dollars! Of course, that was mainly due to the value of her properties. Mrs. Jackson's son William E. Jackson, Jr. (1888-1972), otherwise known as "Billpost" Jackson, along with his son Edward R. Jackson ran a family business--Jackson Poster Advertising. It was a home-based operation installing billboards all over the area, and it provided the family with a decent living. It was skillful work, placing paste on the back of huge lithograph printouts then putting them together like a puzzle on a board. But they did it, and well, too!  Photo Credits 1. "George Carr." Photo: Rufus W. Holsinger, 1914. Holsinger Studio Collection, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, VA, Call No. 9862, Image ID. 33256, accessed September 10, 2023. 2. "A. J. Buckner." Photo: Rufus W. Holsinger, 1918. Holsinger Studio Collection, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, VA, Call No. 9862, Image ID. 33148, accessed September 10, 2023. 3. "Inge's Store, 331-333 Main Street, Charlottesville, Independent City, VA." Drawing: Johnson W Pitt, 1933. Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress, Image 8, accessed September 10, 2023. 4. Photo of oil painting of George Pinkney Inge by unknown artist, found in Inge's Store, 331-333 West Main Street Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Virginia, compiled by Timothy L. Bishop, University of Virginia School of Architecture, 1979. Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia, Call No.: SVA: No. 49:1979, YX001 117 764. Used with permission from the Estate of George P. Inge. 5. Photo of the inside of Inge's Grocery, date unknown, reprint found in “Inge’s Store Has a Place in Main Street’s History and Future," by Ray McGrath, The Daily Progress, November 11, 1979, used with permission from the Estate of George P. Inge. 6. Nannie Cox Jackson. Found in "Nannie Cox Jackson," CVillepedia. Accessed September 10, 2023. 7. "Viola Green" Photo: Rufus W. Holsinger, 1916. Holsinger Studio Collection, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, VA, Call No. 9862, Image ID. 34283, accessed September 10, 2023. 8. William E. Jackson, Jr. Courtesy Teresa Walker Jackson Price. 9. Jackson Post Advertising Sign. Courtesy Teresa Walker Jackson Price.
Selected Bibliography *"Buckner, Anthony T." Daughters of Zion Cemetery, accessed September 9, 2023. "Buckner, Eileen Wood." Daughters of Zion Cemetery, accessed September 9, 2023. "Buckner, Geneva J. Tonsler." Daughters of Zion Cemetery, accessed September 9, 2023. "Buckner, Louisa E." Daughters of Zion Cemetery, accessed September 9, 2023. Correcting the Narrative. "Why Name a School for Nannie Cox Jackson?" December 3, 2019, accessed September 10, 2023. CVillepedia. "George P. Inge." Accessed September 10, 2023. CVillepedia. "Nannie Cox Jackson." Accessed September 10, 2023. Daily Progress. "Progress Past." June 13, 2018, accessed September 10, 2023. George Minor Carr J. F. Bell Funeral Home Records Entry. Digitized by the Virginia Center for Digital History, University of Virginia, accessed September 9, 2923. Getting Word. "Nancy Colbert Scott." Monitcello.org, accessed September 10, 2023. Heritage Trail. "Nannie Cox Jackson (1864-1953), Teacher." Jefferson Heritage Center, accessed September 10, 2023. "Inge's Store: 331-333 West Main Street, Charlottesville, Virginia." Historic American Buildings Survey: HABS No. VA-1015. Digitized by the Library of Congress, accessed September 10, 2023. Interview with Mrs. Teresa Jackson Walker Price. September 23, 2023. Mangione, Wilma T., Editor. “Recollections of Thomas Ferguson Inge, Sr.” From Porch Swings to Patios: An Oral History Project of Charlottesville Neighborhoods, 1914-1980. The City of Charlottesville, 1990, accessed September 8, 2023. McGrath, Ray. "Inge's Store Has a Place in Main Street's History and Future." Daily Progress, November 11, 1979. Munro, J.F. "Anthony T. Buckner." Holsinger Portrait Project, February 10, 2022, accessed September 9, 2023. Munro, Julia F. "George Carr." Holsinger Portrait Project. University of Virginia, February 10, 2022, accessed September 10, 2023. Sampson's Happy PalsBelow are pictured the members of Sampson's Happy Pals, a band that performed live jazz and swing numbers during the 1930 and ’40s throughout Charlottesville, Virginia, and surrounding counties. When this picture was taken, the members included: (left to right) Earl Sampson (tenor sax), George Jones (guitar), T. J. Sellers (drums), Theodore “Duke” Chisholm (piano), Kermit Jones (alto sax), George Bowles (trumpet), Percy Sampson (trombone), and Clarence Bryant (bass).  Photo courtesy the family of Elmer "Sonny" Sampson, found in Charlottesville: The African-American Community by Agnes Cross-White (Dover, NH: Arcadia Publishing, 1998). While on her West Main Street quest in Charlottesville to find her mama a husband who loves to sing, 10-year-old Allie, the main character in MAMA'S CHICKEN & DUMPLINGS my forthcoming novel for young readers that takes place in 1935 Vinegar Hill, asks Mr. Journey, a fictional character who owns a sewing machine shop. . . "I’m wondering, Mr. Journey,” I say. “I mean, it’s obvious you know a thing or two about fixing things . . . but can you sing?” Mr. Journey stops dusting and looks at Jewel and me like we’re a math equation he’s trying to figure. “Every now and again, I sing with Sampson’s Happy Pals.” It was pretty cool to find mention of the band in The Reflector, "Charlottesville's Only Negro Weekly," which was published by T. J. Sellers from 1933-1936. For example, there was this lighthearted inclusion in the "Around Town" society news column with C.S. Kelly in the number 3 issue that came out on August 26, 1933: "Rumor has it that Jerry Bowles is practising with 'Sampson's Happy Pals'. What's that? Did I hear some one say that he likes suspense? Here's a bit. We are not telling you where Mr. Bowles bought the instrument, or what kind it is or how much it cost, but we will say that we expect him to make his debut soon. If you do not wish to miss this treat, you had better follow 'Sampson's Happy Pals' around the town."  Orange County News, Volume 11, Number 47, 16 March 1933. A more sobering mention was found on the front page of the June 9, 1934, issue of The Reflector. It said: "Readers of this issue of 'The Reflector' will notice an announcement concerning the John Stratton Benefit Dance, to be held next Thursday, June 14th. This entertainment, to be staged at the Odd Fellows Hall, will represent an effort, on the part of Sampson's Happy Pals, to assist a former member of their orchestra in the securing of medical attention that has been advised for him. Stratton, as Charlottesville knows, was the little man "behind the drums" in Sampson's Happy Pals. Several months ago, he became ill and has been confined to his bed ever since. In these economically topsy-turvy times, when even well men find the going tough, it is not difficult to understand why it is a worthwhile movement on the part of the orchestra to provide their former orchestra member with financial assistance. The intentions of the band are commendable, but unless the public catches the spirit and supports this movement, these intentions will amount to very little in a material way. Negro citizens of Charlottesville should keep this fact in mind and make arrangements to help make his movement a successful one because such a splendid display of brotherhood on the part of these ten musicians should be encouraged." Despite his band mates' efforts to get him needed care, Mr. Stratton sadly passed away on August 27, 1934, at just 28 years of age.  Photo courtesy Chris Farina and Rosalia Films. From West Main Street, https://vimeo.com/273521741, accessed April 27, 2023. Above is Elmer "Sonny" Sampson. He's seated in front of the home he was born in, located on 6th Street SW. Sonny played for a short while with his older brother Percy in Sampson's Happy Pals. Sonny was an accomplished trombone player who played with well-known musicians like Lena Horne. Sonny was one of the first two African Americans invited to join Charlottesville's Municipal Band in 1968 after Jim Crow laws lifted. I sure wish I could find a recording of Sampson's Happy Pals! Bibliography: Cross-White, Agnes. Charlottesville: The African-American Community. Dover, NH: Arcadia Publishing, 1998. Cvilleband.org. "African Americans and the Band," accessed July 29, 2023. J.F. Bell Funeral Records. John Stratton. Virginia Center for Digital History, University of Virginia, accessed July 29, 2023. Kelly, C.S. The Reflector (Charlottesville, VA), Number 3, 26 Aug. 1933, p. 3. Orange County News (VA), Volume 11, Number 39, 19 January 1933, accessed July 28, 2023. Orange County News (VA), Volume 11, Number 47, 16 March 1933, accessed July 29, 2023. Sellers, T. J., ed. The Reflector (Charlottesville, VA), Number 7, 16 Sept. 1933, p. 3. Sellers, T. J., ed. The Reflector (Charlottesville, VA), Number 44, 9 June 1934, p. 1. West Main Street. Produced by Chris Farina and Reid Oechslin. Rosalia Films: 1995, accessed April 27, 2023. HURRICANE! Library of Congress It happened in the middle of the night on September 2, 1935. It was Labor Day weekend, and little did the residents of the Florida Keys know that a category 5 hurricane was barreling toward them. But when the monstrous storm made landfall, everyone realized the danger. Waters rose. Biting rain pounded. Sustained winds battered at 185 mph! On Metacumbe Key, a storm surge caused ocean waves to crest between 15-20-feet. Soon, every building, every tree, every living thing on the island was being ripped to shreds. On Lower Metacumbe Bay, 260 U.S. World War I veterans were surrounded by the storm. They'd been working on an overseas highway and hadn't been given ample warning or opportunity to evacuate. A train was sent to rescue them, but the storm surge pushed it off its tracks. Help was not on the way. Tragically, all the men lost their lives. By the time the storm subsided, the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane had claimed at least 485 victims.  Digitized by the Library of the University of Virginia Allie, my main character in Mama's Chicken & Dumplings, overhears her mama talking about a hurricane brewing in the Atlantic, but that's the only mention I make of it in my work of historical fiction. If the storm had greatly impacted Charlottesville, Virginia, I would have included more. But by the time the storm moved inland it had weakened. The local newspaper, the Daily Progress, however, did report on three days of heavy rains from the storm, which destroyed corn and apple crops. And it reported that the town of Scottsville, Virginia, located about 20 miles south of Charlottesville, had flooded when the the James River rose 23 feet above its normal level. No doubt, the overflowing waters of Mink Creek, which passed by the Methodist Church on Main Street, were also responsible for the town's streets being turned into waterways navigable only by rowboats.  (c) Photo: Edward L. Dorrier I wondered if the residents of Vinegar Hill had a fundraiser for the African American family from Scottsville who lost everything when their two-story home was swept away by a flooded creek while the family was stuck inside. (Thankfully, the house floated and became lodged onto a bridge and the uninjured family was subsequently rescued.) Following the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, the Weather Bureau determined to improve hurricane warnings and evacuation orders. Nowadays, the National Weather Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use powerful tools like satellite imaging and supercomputers to sound hurricane warnings to give residents of coastal areas plenty of time to evacuate, thus minimizing loss of life. Photo Credits 1. "Rescue Train Swept off the Tracks by the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane." Library of Congress, Control No. 2021670725, accessed September 8. 2023. 2. Front page of the Daily Progress. Charlottesville, VA, No. 16, 104, September 5, 1935, accessed September 8, 2023. 3. Dorrier, Edward L. Dorrier. "Sept. 6, 1935 Flood Photo of Main Street in Scottsville, VA." Irene and Edward L. Dorrier Collection, Scottsville Museum, Scottsville, VA, accessed September 8, 2023. Photo used with permission from Irene Dorrier and the Scottsville Museum. Bibliography Daily Progress, September 5, 1935, p. 1, digitized by the University of Virginia Library, accessed September 1, 2023. Daily Progress, September 6, 1935, p. 1, digitized by the University of Virginia Library, accessed September 1, 2023. HurricaneScience.org. "1935-Labor Day Hurricane." The University of Rhode Island, accessed September 1, 2023. Library of Congress. "Rescue Train Swept off the Tracks by the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane." Item Description, accessed September 1, 2023. McDonald, W. F. "The Hurricane of August 31 to September 6, 1935." Monthly Weather Review, 63, 269-271, accessed September 1, 2023. National Weather Service. "NOAA Weather Radio in the Florida Keys." NOAA, accessed September 1, 2023. Doctors Serving the Vinegar Hill Community Seated: Dr. George Franklin Johnson, Mrs. Peachie Carr Johnson, and Mr. Conly Greer Standing: Mrs. Emma Carr Clorinda, Mrs. Mary Carr Greer, and Fannie Carr Washington In 1935, when Mama's Chicken & Dumplings takes place, the medical needs of Vinegar Hill residents were cared for by five African American physicians and dentists whose home offices or joint practices were either within the neighborhood or located in nearby neighborhoods of Charlottesville, Virginia, like Starr Hill and Fifeville. The 1934 Hill’s Charlottesville, Virginia, City Directory names them: George Johnson, Edward Stratton, Jr., Bernard Coles, John Jackson, and Edgar Long, Jr. Dr. George Franklin Johnson (1876-1945) was born in Orange County. He was a 1911 Howard University medical school graduate who practiced at his home office at 123 4th St. NW in Charlotteville for 30 years. He married Peachie Suporah Carr (1889-1977), an Albemarle native, in 1914. According to a participant at Family Photo Day held at the University of Virginia on March 9, 2019, the man in the photo below is that of Dr. Johnson. However, when I showed the image to Charlottesville native and longtime Jefferson School educator, Mrs. Teresa Walker Jackson Price, whose mind is as sharp as ever at 97 years, she said with certainty that it was not Dr. Johnson. I also shared the photo with Peachie Carr's grandniece and her grandnephew's wife. Neither ladies recognized the man in the photo as Dr. Johnson. So I'm pretty sure the photo below has been misidentified, but wanted to include it here anyway. Above however, is the photo the Carr-Geer family shared with me, in which they identified Dr. Johnson as sitting next to his wife, Peachie.  Photo likely misidentified as George Franklin Johnson, M.D. Peachie Carr Johnson (later Jackson) was a teacher in Orange County for two years then at Jefferson School in Charlottesville for decades. She graduated from Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute (now Virginia State College) with a teaching degree in 1912. In 1933, she obtained a bachelors of science degree from the same university. Later, Peachie did graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania. "Dr. George F. Johnson in company with Mrs. Mary Greer motored to Virginia State College at Petersburg, to witness the Commencement exercises. Mrs. Peachie C. Johnson was a member of the graduating class." *Besides being a teacher, Peachie Carr Johnson was a civic minded individual who was quite involved in various literary and social clubs as well as benevolent societies organized by Charlottesville's African American women. From 1954-58, she was the president of the Virginia Federation of Colored Women's Clubs. I'm sure you'll find the primary research that's been done by the Ivy Creek Foundation about Peachie's family, the Carr and Greer Families, quite fascinating. I certainly did! (Find it HERE.) According to Peachie's obituary, Dr. Johnson died suddenly in 1945.  Howard University Dentistry Class, circa 1900 Seen below is Dr. John Andrew Jackson (1888-1956). According to the 1934 Hill's Directory he was living at 125 4th Street NW, next door to Dr. Johnson, and practicing dentistry at 406 Commerce Street NW, right across from Jefferson School. Dr. Jackson received his D.D.S. degree from Howard University in 1913. Dr. Jackson's wife's name was Otelia Love (1889-1966). Otelia was actively involved in civic organizations serving the African American community of Charlottesville. The Jacksons had seven children--five sons and two daughters. Two of their sons Ellard "Punjab" Jackson and George Franklin Jackson became dentists like their father. The entire Jackson family was quite involved in volunteering with the National Association of Colored Dentists, now the National Dental Association, a professional organization founded in the 1900s by Dr. David Arthur Ferguson of Richmond, Virginia.  John Andrew Jackson, D.D.S. In addition to their city property, the Jacksons owned 82 acres of farmland that was just outside the city. Dr. Jackson's father, Andrew W. Jackson, once had a working farm there. The land was located within a bustling, rural African American community called Hydraulic Mills-Union Ridge. During the summer months, Dr. Jackson, who was scoutmaster of Charlottesville's African American Troop No. 15, allowed his land in the country to be used by the local African American Boy Scouts who camped, gardened, competed, and swam there. "Week before last, our city was host to the Old Dominion Dental Society. What an asset this convention wasmto our city. If nothing else were enumerated, the inspiration allotted to our young people is really worthy of note. Without any attempt at exaggeration I have heard about ten young men and women express their desire to become dentists. Dr. J. A. Jackson and Dr. B. A. Coles deserve great credit for their unselfishness in planning the public meeting. . ." **Dr. Bernard A. Coles (1894-1971) a dentist, and Dr. Edgar A. Long, Jr., a physician, took care of the needs of their patients in an office located inside Vinegar Hill at 271½ West Main Street. Most likely, Dr. Long also visited infirm and ill patients in their homes. According to the 1934 Hill's Directory, Dr. Coles lived at 313 8th St. NW in Charlottesville with his wife Ruth, and Dr. Long, Jr. lived at 321 6th St. SW with his wife Marie. (The directory also lists another couple as living at the same home--Lloyd and Mary Tonsler.) Dr. Coles along with Dr. Jackson awarded graduating seniors of Jefferson School who had maintained the highest average in English with a five dollar gold piece, and awarded a five dollar prize for the best essay written by a student in any class!  Edward W. Stratton, Jr., M.D. Dr. Edward W. Stratton Jr. was listed in the directory as practicing at his home at 206 6th Street NW. His wife's name was Marguerite. As a volunteer in the 1930s, he served as the physician for Jefferson School's football team. On the left is an image of him cropped from a photo that was taken with the undefeated Jefferson School football team in 1935. Just who was Dr. Edward W. Stratton, Jr.? More research needs to be done. But I wonder if he was the son of Edward W. Stratton who was the son of a Samuel Stratton, an African American clerk who built his family's home in Columbia, South Carolina in 1887. I also wonder if he was the young man with the same name who was listed in Howard University's 1933 Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity roster. I was truly delighted to discover from Mrs. Teresa Walker Jackson Price that I was correct in assuming that Dr. Edward W. Stratton, Jr. of Vinegar Hill was the same Dr. Edward W. Stratton, Jr. who was a prominent obstetrician in Los Angeles during the 1950s and 60s. And when I showed her a picture that I found of that Dr. Stratton (HERE), she quickly said, yes, it's him! And she should know. Dr. Stratton was her "godfather" who saw his patients in a basement office located in her family's basement, and who ate supper with her family every night!  I really enjoyed finding out more about the physicians and dentists whose names were marked with a "C" in Hill's 1934 Directory (indicating their color). Learning even just a little about them, their wives, and families filled me with something akin to familial pride. And I felt it not just for them, but for all those back then who were professionals serving their communities--though they were born just a generation away from the Dark Days of Slavery. As Charlottesville newspaper man T. J. Sellers, said: "They deported themselves with a decorum, born of culture and dignity." It was my privilege to shine a small light on them by naming the doctor in Mama's Chicken & Dumplings Dr. Stratton. Photo Credits 1. Carr-Greer Family Photo. Courtesy Helen Theodosia Lemons. 2. "Untitled" Photo: Ralph W. Holsinger. April 4, 1912. Holsinger Studio Collection, Albert and Shirley Small Collections Library, University of Virginia, Image ID 39856, neg. no. X00167A, accessed August 29, 2023. 3. Howard University Dentistry Class. Photo: William Edward Burghardt, circa 1900. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Control NO. 2002695672, accessed August 29, 2023. 4. John Andrew Jackson. Found in History of the American Negro & His Institutions: Virginia by A.B. Caldwell, January 1921: A.B. Caldwell Publishing, Atlanta, GA, p. 438, accessed August 29, 2023. 5. Edward W. Stratton Jr. Photo (cropped from 1935 Jefferson School Undefeated Football Team): Ralph W. Holsinger, 1935. Holsinger Studio Collection, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia, Image ID. 41491, neg. no. Y21177B2, accessed August 29, 2023. 6. Surgical Kit. Photo: Marjory Collins, February 1943. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Call No.LC-USW3- 017701-D, accessed August 30, 2023.
Bibliography "A Spirit of No Boundaries." Dental Economics, February 2014, p. 14, accessed August 28, 2023. African-American Genealogy Group. "About the J.F. Bell Funeral Home and Family." The Virginia Center for Digital History, accessed August 29, 2023. Central Virginia History Researchers. "The Hydraulic Mills / Union Ridge Community." Accessed August 29, 2023. CVillepedia. "B. A. Coles." Accessed August 29, 2023. *"Dr. Geo. R. Ferguson." Journal of the National Medical Association. February 25, 1933, volume 1, pp. 36–37, accessed August 24, 2023. Ezell, Ray. "Review of Black Boy Scouting in Central Virginia, 1915-1949." Central Virginia Boy Scouting Preservation Project, accessed August 29, 2023. Heritage Trails, No. 3. "Dr. John A. Jackson Home & Office: 125 Fourth Street NW." accessed August 29, 2023. Howard University. The Bison, 1933, p. 107, accessed August 29, 2023. Obituary of Dr. George Franklin Jackson, D.D.S. Dignity Memorial, accessed August 29, 2023. Jet, December 17, 1973, page 14, accessed August 29, 2023. Kessler, Bryan S. "David Arthur Ferguson (1875–1935)." Dictionary of Virginia Biography, Library of Virginia, 2015, accessed August 29, 2023. Miller, Ed. "Excluded Elsewhere: UVA’s First Black Students Found Community of their Own." The UVA Magazine, Summer 2021, p. 47, accessed August 29, 2023. Monroe, Bruce, Orange County historian. Email Correspondence, September 21, 2023. Munro, Julia F. "Dr. Johnson." Holsinger Portrait Project. University of Virginia, February 17, 2022, accessed August 23, 2023. National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. "Waverly Historic District." National Park Service, November 16, 1989, accessed August 29, 2023. ** Sellers, Thomas. "Old Dominion Dental Society." Reflector, April 21, 1934, issue no. 37, p. 4, col. 1, accessed August 29, 2023. Yager, Jordy. "Black Land, Black Schools & Eminent Domain." Mapping Albemarle/Mapping CVille, January 19, 2021, accessed August 29, 2023. Mary Jane ®A Peanut Buttery Molasses Taffy Penny-Candy (C) Atkinson Candy Company. Courtesy The Museum of Fictional Literary Artifacts It was in 1914 when Charles N. Miller, a Boston, Massachusetts, European American candymaker, who cooked up the first batch of Mary Jane® penny candies. And it was his family's candy factory, the Charles N. Miller Candy Company that made the bite sized rectangular chewy bits of yum with its molasses taffy outside and peanut buttery inside a popular delight. The Mary Jane® penny candy is a favorite of Allie, my main character in Mama's Chicken & Dumplings, and whenever there's a penny in her dress pocket she runs down to Mr. Inge's store to buy a few.  (C) Atkinson Candy Company. Courtesy The Museum of Fictional Literary Artifacts In 1989, Mr. Miller's company closed. But not so the production of the Mary Jane® candy. The recipe and rights for creating it moved into the hands of the Stark Candy Company, then the New England Confectionery Company (NECCO), and now the Atkinson Candy Company out of Texas. "The new recipe," states Eric Atkinson on the company's website, "captures the flavor of Mary Janes, for it's the same components as it always was." Atkinson Candy Company still packages the candy with that familiar yellow and red wrapper adorned with an adorable little girl dressed in a bonnet, the same kind of wrapper Allie would have seen in 1935, though the candy is cylindrical in shape now, much smaller, and doesn't have the peanut butter center. (It's still a bite of chewy yum IMO!) Bibliography Atkinson, Sarah. "Atkinson Brings Back Mary Jane Candy!" Atkins.com, April 22, 2021. Birrell, Alistair. "Dear America, We Invented All Your Candy. Love, Boston." Boston.com, October 22, 2014, accessed August 31, 2023. Daily Progress. "Progress Past." June 13, 2018, accessed August 13, 2023. Garner, Nicole. "The Revolutionary Story Behind Mary Jane Candies." Mental Floss, October 29, 2015. Kurland, Ann Trieger. "Mary Jane Makes a Sweet Comeback." Boston Globe, October 13, 2020, accessed August 31, 2023. Library of Congress. "Inge's Store, 331-333 West Main Street Charlottesville, VA." Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS No. VA-1015, accessed August 31, 2023. Library of Congress. "New England Confectionery Company (NECCO)." Local Legacies: Celebrating Community Roots--Massachusetts, accessed August 31, 2023. Noennig, Jordyn. "NECCO Wafers May No Longer Exist, Echoing the History of Pewaukee's Stark Candy Co." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 19, 2018, accessed August 31, 2023. The Cambridge Historical Society. "NECCO: 254 Massachusetts Avenue (1847-present)." The History of Candymaking, accessed August 31, 2023. The Museum of Fictional Literary Artifacts. "Mary Jane (Candy)." Accessed August 31, 2023. Tucker, Aimee. "Mary Jane Candy--Favorite Old-Fashioned Candy." NewEngland.com, June 29, 2022, accessed August 31, 2023.  I'm delighted to say that I gave away 10 copies of MAMA'S CHICKEN & DUMPLINGS to 10 wonderful Charlottesville City and Albemarle County schoolteachers and librarians during my educator giveaway, which I held from October 15, 2024, through November 15, 2024. I hand delivered signed copies to seven different local schools during my campaign! That was great fun!
But now I'm wondering: will the kiddos enjoy being transported back to 1935 Vinegar Hill as Allie sets out on her West Main Street adventure? I certainly hope so, especially since these particular readers attend schools located just minutes away from where the story takes place. During my campaign, I also gave away a free classroom visit and am delighted to say the winner is Trailblazer Elementary School, with the visit set for February 5, 2025--World Read Aloud Day! THANKS OODLES to all the educators that participated!  What began as an 100-word personal challenge to write something for a first pages reading event held during the 2011 Virginia Festival of the Book, MAMA'S CHICKEN & DUMPLINGS is at last a real live book, ready to be enjoyed by young and old readers alike. At least, I hope! Delighted to share that the book launch celebration for my debut novel for young and old readers alike, MAMA'S CHICKEN & DUMPLINGS, a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection, was a complete success. The turnout at the central branch of the Jefferson Regional Library in CVIlle on August 3, was more than expected, the two young flautists played their duet beatifully, and everyone said they LOVED my chicken and dumplings! Book Launch Celebration Day!If you're in my neck of the woods, please come by and celebrate with me! (C) Vanessa Brantley Newton, vanessabrantleynewton.com Saturday, August 3, 2024, 2-4 pm |
About MeI am a children's book author who loves learning about lesser known individuals shining in the margins of African American history. My debut novel for young readers, Mama's Chicken & Dumplings (Margaret Ferguson Books, 2024), received a starred review from Shelf Awareness and is a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection. I am Copying, reposting, or otherwise republishing anything on this blog without permission is strictly prohibited.
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