A Shining Thread of Hope: The History of Black Women in America [Hardcover]

Darlene Clark Hine (Author), Kathleen Thompson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 12, 1998

Encompassing both the panoramic story of black women in America and the intimate, evocative details of the lives of individual women, this landmark history offers a new perspective on a long-neglected area of our country's history.

At its greatest moments and in its cruelest times, black women have been a crucial part of America's history. Now, in A Shining Thread of Hope, the inspiring story of black women in America is explored in vivid detail by two experts in the fields of African American and women's history. In this engagingly written narrative history, coauthors Darlene Clark Hine and Kathleen Thompson illuminate the roots of the present-day black community and make evident that our understanding of women's history, and indeed of American history, must begin with an understanding of black women's history.

A Shining Thread of Hope chronicles the lives of black women from indentured servitude in the early American colonies to the cruelty of antebellum plantations, from the reign of lynch law in the Jim Crow South to the triumphs of the Civil Rights era. Tracing the accomplishments, as well as the suffering, of black women through the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, the Depression, the Civil Rights movement, and the present day, Hine and Thompson challenge preconceived notions and move black women from the fringes of American history to a central position in our understanding of the forces and events that have shaped this country.

More than a story of struggle, black women's history is very much a story of hope. In the face of great obstacles, black women strengthened their communities through the development of women's groups, charitable organizations, and political groups, and contributed to the larger community as writers, activists, educators, artists, and leaders. A Shining Thread of Hope reveals this history, presenting the strength and courage of black women, both as individuals and as a collective force for positive change.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This history of the experience of black women opens with an account of the life of Lucy Terry, who was brought as a slave to Deerfield, Massachusetts, when she was a child in about 1735. At 16, Terry wrote a poem, "Bars Fight," the first work of literature by a black American. Years later, married and free, Terry argued for the admission of her son to Williams College and, when a white man tried to take her family's land, she took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Terry's story is typical of those in A Shining Thread of Hope, which brings together centuries of achievement by black women. As coauthors Darlene Clark Hine and Kathleen Thompson put it, "The extraordinary achievements of black women in the 19th and 20th centuries did not grow out of degradation but out of a legacy of courage, resourcefulness, initiative, and dignity that goes back to 1619."

From Library Journal

In an extraordinary narrative personalized for easy reading, Hine (Michigan State Univ.), perhaps the leading historian of U.S. black women, and Thompson, editor-in-chief of Facts on File's Encyclopedia of Black Women (LJ 4/15/97), convey the plight and pluck of African American women from their arrival at Jamestown, VA, in 1619 to what the authors describe as a new era at the dawn of the year 2000. Celebrating black women's historical strength, Hine and Thompson accentuate resistance and survival in their 12 chapters. They focus on flesh-and-blood women whose stories of persistence, protest, and progress flow together with famous and unfamiliar names sharing an unbreakable thread spun by faithful and industrious self-reliance. Without peer as a single-volume history of being black and female in America, this book is an inviting opening to the fast-growing scholarship on African American women to which Hine has so richly contributed. Highly recommended for collections on blacks, women, or U.S. history.
-ABrenda M. Brock, Univ. at Buffalo, NY, & Thomas J. Davis, Arizona State Univ., Tempe
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; 1 edition (January 12, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076790110X
• ISBN-13: 978-0767901109
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #348,541 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An important work--doesn't fulfill the promise of its title., June 8, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Shining Thread of Hope: The History of Black Women in America (Hardcover)

It is close to impossible to reconstruct a history of African Americans. Indeed, part of our common American heritage is the destruction and unrecorded depiction of non-European and non-male histories. The authors have dilligently researched their stories and they are to be congratulated for their tenacity. However, the book fails to elicit "hope" from the reader. The writing is dry and unimaginative. With such a lively history, it is a shame that it reads like a dead history. The most egregious flaw in the book, however, is not found in its writing style but rather in how the authors attempt to boost the qualities of the women portrayed in the book by drawing comparisons between the accomplishment of these women and the accomplishments of men and white women. This is a completely unnecessary element. The accomplishments of these African American women stand on their own. The purpose of the book is largely diminished because the authors have touted "whiteness" or "maleness" as standards. "Whiteness" and "maleness" are not standards by my measure and should not be used as one, particularly in a book about black women. I would hope that the authors eliminate their references and comparisons to men and white women in future editions so that the history of these women can be properly relayed to future generations.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This riveting narrative gives voice to American black women., July 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Shining Thread of Hope: The History of Black Women in America (Hardcover)

This riveting narrative, a kind of polyphonic chorus giving voice to American black women, adds an important chapter in the ongoing project of understanding our nation's history. Covering a span of almost 400 years, the work moves beyond stereotypes, beyond idealization, to recognize the richness of the stories they tell. With superbly crafted prose, the authors document difficulties and challenges along with achievements and triumphs as they interpret the profound complexities of gender, race and class in the lives of African American women.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SIMPLY MARVELOUS !!!!, April 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Shining Thread of Hope: The History of Black Women in America (Hardcover)

A Shining Thread of Hope: The History of Black Women in America is a book for the country. This book is not just a history written on a specific race and gender, but it offers invaluable insights on the lives of a group of people who simply did not give up hope. A Shining Thread of Hope is a book seems to be in a class by itself. It's both academic and non-academic. It proves to be a wonderfully written narrative that any age, class, gender or race can learn from and enjoy. I applaud the authors for their collaborating efforts to bring to life the stories of Black women, who seem to be forgotten. I would encourage all people to read this book, for it will provide them with food for the mind and soul. A Shining Thread of Hope leaves one's heart full of warmth and love for all humanity. It encourages us to fight for what is right and demand respect of each other as human beings. (Marshanda Smith)