Toting the Lead Row

by Brown, Virginia Pounds; Owens, Laurella

• ISBN13: 9780817311827
• ISBN10: 0817311823
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-07-01
• Publisher: Univ of Alabama Pr

Summary

;You recall the expression ;toting the lead row', don't you? In chopping cotton or corn there is always a leader, one who can chop the fastest of them all. When he finishes his row, he goes back and helps the other choppers finish theirs. The one who totes the lead row takes the lead place in the next row. ;-Ruby Pickens Tartt As a young woman growing up in Livingston in the Black Belt region of Alabama, Ruby Pickens Tartt developed a keen interest in the stories, songs, and folklore of rural blacks. Born in 1880, this remarkable woman lived through 94 years of dramatic change for blacks and whites alike. She was certain that the very essence of her native Sumter County lay on the back roads, in the cabins hidden nearby, and with the black people who lived there. Their singing and their stories captivated her; the preservation of their heritage became life-long commitment. In her collection work, including service with the WPA Writers' Project, Ruby Pickens Tartt worked with and assisted other collectors of folklore, notably Carl Carmer and John Lomax; indeed, her Livingston home became a mecca for folklorists and writers. In helping them all, truly Mrs. Tartt was ;toting the lead row ;. Toting the Lead Rowis divided into two major parts. The first is biographical and told in detail is her work during the Depression with the Federal Writers' Project, collecting folk songs and life histories and gathering folklore. The second part contains selecting writings of Ruby Pickens Tartt: 18 life histories and stories and 12 slave narratives.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Part I. Ruby Pickens Tartt	1	(56)
Beginnings	3	(4)
Her Many Selves	7	(5)
Working with the WPA	12	(4)
Echoes on Baldwin Hill	16	(7)
Back Roads and Country Singers	23	(16)
A ``Rising Literary Celebrity''	39	(7)
What of Dock?	46	(6)
Steal away Home	52	(5)
Part II. Selected Writings of Ruby Pickens Tartt	57	(90)
Introduction	59	(2)
Life Histories and Stories	61	(59)
Susanna Ross	61	(3)
Can't Be Funny When You Hungry	64	(2)
Anne Goldfrey
Carrie Dykes, Midwife	66	(5)
West T. Jones, Farmer	71	(2)
Four of My Children Ain't No Blood Kin	73	(4)
Minnie Johnson
Tom Moore and His Death Money	77	(2)
Amy Chapman's Funeral	79	(4)
On the White Folks Side	83	(4)
General Greenlee
Earthy-Ann	87	(6)
I's Tellin You Like You Asked Me	93	(4)
A Pair of Blue Stockings	97	(3)
John Horn
Alice	100	(5)
Blow Your Horn, Josh	105	(2)
Josh Horn
Richard the Tall-Hearted	107	(4)
Graduated in Lies	111	(4)
Hoodoo Doctor	115	(2)
White-Oak Tom	117	(1)
Rich Amerson
Waitin on the Lord for Salvation	118	(2)
Slave Narratives	120	(27)
Peter Had No Keys 'ceptin His	120	(3)
George Young
Children in Every Graveyard	123	(3)
Laura Clark
Gabriel Blow Soft! Gabriel Blow Loud!	126	(2)
Ank Bishop
The Masters Good But Overseers Mean	128	(2)
Amy Chapman
Reckon You Might Say I's Just Faithful	130	(2)
Charlie Johnson
A Husband Couldn't Be Bought	132	(2)
Carrie Pollard
That Tree Was My Nurse	134	(3)
Oliver Bell
Lost to the Refugee Wagons	137	(2)
Bettie Tolbert
My Grandmammy Fancied Her Butler	139	(1)
Adelle Lemon
Turned Loose without Nothin	140	(3)
Angie Garrett
Yellow Gals Got Sent North	143	(2)
Martha Jackson
Chasing Guinea Jim	145	(2)
Josh Horn
Notes	147	(7)
Appendix: Biographies of Sumter County Singers and Storytellers	154	(15)
Bibliography	169	(6)
Index	175