Slaves in the family edward ball book

In my childhood, our family lived in various small towns and cities in the south. This book helps readers to visualize, if not understand, the slave legacy still enmeshed in this country today. Slaves in the family is a book about the authors family, slaveowners in south carolina for 170 years. Edward balls other books comprise biography, history, and memoir. In the ball family, the tale of wambaw elias and his slaves passed as a childrens story. Edward ball grew up hearing stories of his familys history of being a part of the plantation elite and of their slaves. Edward ball talked about his book, slaves in the family. This book keeps the readers interest in the lives of those of whom he writes. National book awardwinner, slaves in the family, is one of the best nonfiction books i have read in the past ten years. Part historical narrative, part oral history, part personal story of investigation and catharsis, slaves in the family is, in the words of pat conroy, a work of breathtaking generosity and courage, a magnificent study of the. Links on this page open in a new window so you wont lose your place. Edward ball has traveled all over the united states to meet descendants of ball slaves who number between 75,000 and 100,000 living americans. He finished high school in new orleans and attended brown university, graduating in. It recounts the authors search for and meetings with african americans whose ancestors his.

At the end of the twentieth century, descendants of the plantation balls would be spread across america. Description of the book slaves in the family 4 cassettes. Their plantations were among the oldest and longeststanding plantations in the south. Journalist ball confronts the legacy of his familys slaveow. Slaves in the family by edward ball 2014, paperback at the best online prices at ebay. Your own responses to book slaves in the family epub additional viewers are able to make a decision about a ebook. In this way, slaves in the family is an initiation, for ball and for other whites, into a fuller story of slavery and into a worldview and consciousness of the past held by blacks. Simply, ball slaves were people owned by members of the ball family whose, lives could be traced in the surviving files. Slaves in the family by edward ball, 9780374534455, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Slaves in the family is the winner of the 1998 national book award for nonfiction and hailed by the new yorker as a brilliant blend of archival research and oral history. Slaves in the family recounts edward balls painstaking research into the history of his family, the first of whom settled near charlestion at the end of the 17th century. The story of how i linked priscilla and the martin family has several unlikely twists. Edward ball is the author of works of nonfiction including slaves in the family, which won the national book award. Edward ball, recipient of the 1998 national book award, delivers the keynote speech at the annual meeting of the san diego historical society.

Edward ball discussed his book slaves in the family, published by random house. The item slaves in the family, edward ball represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in indiana state library. The new yorker everyone should read and learn from this luminous book. If you only read one book about the legacy of slavery. I wish that i could find a common theme to unite as much of my familys story as ball has done. Edward ball born october 8, 1959 is an american writer, a university instructor and the author of five books of nonfiction, including slaves in the family 1998 and the inventor and the tycoon 20. These guidance can certainly make people additional usa. Between 1698 and 1865, close to four thousand black people were born into slavery under the balls or were bought by them. Edward ball journalist ball confronts the legacy of his familys slaveowning past, uncovering the story of the people, both black and white, who lived and worked on the balls south carolina plantations. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. He has taught at yale university, and he lives in new haven, connecticut.

Twenty years after this celebrated work of narrative nonfiction won the national book award and changed the american conversation about race, slaves in the family makes its audio debut, with a new preface by the author. Part historical narrative, part oral history, part personal story of investigation and catharsis, slaves in the family is, in the words of pat conroy, a work of breathtaking generosity and courage, a magnificent study of the complexity and strangeness and beauty of the word family. The white people who came from england and often married other early settlers in the colonial days. Ball also tracks a young slave girl from sierra leone to charleston, where second elias ball bought her, and traces her lineage to thomas p. Martin, retired assistant school principal and a seventhgeneration descendant of priscilla. Dad was an episcopal priest, so the houses we lived in belonged to the church, and my parents owned a single car. Use of this excerpt from slaves in the family by edward ball may be made only for purposes of promoting the book, with no changes, editing or additions whatsoever, and must be accompanied by the following notice. The book had a wordy title, recollections of the ball family of south carolina and the comingtee plantation. Slaves in the family 9780345431059 by ball, edward and a great selection of similar new, used and collectible books available now at great prices. Among the thousands once enslaved by my family in south carolina, there was one man, p. History, journey, discovery slaves in the family by edward ball. His first book, slaves in the family, won the national book award. Slaves in the family is a biographical historical account written by edward ball, published in 1998. I found it fascinating that, thanks to his familys extensive family records, he was able to trace so many slaves back to africa.

Ben affleck could learn a thing or two to learn from edward ball. Do you know of a history of slavery in your own family, and if so, would you do as edward ball has and try to contact descendants of the slaves or the descendants of slave owners. Slaves in the family has the potential for creating. A gilded age murder and the birth of moving pictures doubleday. In slaves in the family, edward ball rewrites his family legends in an.

The ball family hails from south carolina charleston and thereabouts. Fifteen years after its hardcover debut, the fsg classics reissue of the celebrated work of. Edward ball the gilder lehrman center for the study of. Fifteen years after its hardcover debut, the fsg classics reissue of the celebrated work of narrative nonfiction that won the national book award and changed. Slaves in the family book by edward ball thriftbooks. Edward ball traces his past back to the large south carolina rice plantations once controlled by family patriarchs and worked by hundreds of enslaved africans over more than 150 years. Slaves in the family by edward ball book club discussion.

In slaves in the family, edward ball recounts his efforts to track down and meet the descendants of his familys slaves. Edward ball finds fredericks descendants, living in ohio, pennsylvania, and south carolina. Slaves in the family by edward ball, paperback barnes. Ball family slaveholders, 16981865 this is an index page. Arriving in the new world just before the 1700s, elias red cap ball sets out to make his fortune as a farmer. Were you surprised by any of the reactions ball received from descendants he contacted and met. In his work slaves in the family, ball details his journey to discovering the descendants of the slaves that his family owned. He does an excellent job of detailing his own familys history, from the arrival of the first. Edward ball was born in savannah, georgia, in 1958, grew up in south carolina, florida, and louisiana. It examines the family histories of the slaves owned by his family on plantations in south carolina. In 1994, i began to research my book slaves in the family. Slaves in the family was a new york times bestseller and won the national book award for nonfiction. Edward ball born october 8, 1959 is an american writer and the author of six books of nonfiction, including slaves in the family 1998, the inventor and the. He lives in connecticut and teaches writing at yale university.

Find slaves in the family 0670881066 by ball, edward. Like alex haleys roots, through which african american history came into national focus. Born and raised in the south, he attended brown university and received his mfa from the university of iowa before coming to new york and working as an art critic for the village voice. Firsttime author and awardwinning journalist edward ball confronts the legacy of his familys slaveowning past, uncovering the story of the people, both black and white, who lived and worked on the balls south carolina. Now in another way, i am going to take another step, which is that some other members of the ball family and i are going to create a foundation that will be funded initially. Slaves in the family by edward ball is an impressive book, demonstrating years of research, interviews and exploration. Their story represents that of many african americans. Ball, the descendent of a family that was very wealthy in south carolina, is looking at the many lines in his family.