Another Way Home: The Tangled Roots of Race in One Chicago Family

by Ronne Hartfield

In her prologue to Another Way Home , Ronne Hartfield notes the dearth of stories about African Americans who have occupied the area of mixed race with ease and harmony for generations. Her moving family history is filled with such stories, told in beautifully crafted and unsentimental prose. Spanning most of the twentieth century, Hartfield's book celebrates the special occasion of being born and reared in a household where miscegenation was the rule rather than the exception—where being a woman of mixed race could be a fundamental source of strength, vitality, and courage.

Hartfield begins with the early life of her mother, Day Shepherd. Born to a wealthy British plantation owner and the mixed-race daughter of a former slave, Day negotiates the complicated circumstances of plantation life in the border country of Louisiana and Mississippi and, as she enters womanhood, the quadroon and octoroon societies of New Orleans. Equally a tale of the Great Migration, Another Way Home traces Day's journey to Bronzeville, the epicenter of black Chicago during the first half of the twentieth century. Here, through the eyes of Day and, ultimately, her daughter, we witness the bustling city streets and vibrant middle-class culture of this iconic black neighborhood. We also relive crucial moments in African American history as they are experienced by the author's family and others in Chicago's South Side black community, from the race riots of 1919 and the Great Depression to the murder of Emmett Till and the dawn of the civil rights movement.

Throughout her book, Hartfield portrays mixed-race Americans navigating the challenges of their lives with resilience and grace, making Another Way Home an intimate and compelling encounter with one family's response to our racially charged culture.

Genres: Nonfiction, Book Club, Race, Memoir

224 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 2004

Reviews

[Rebecca Waring-Crane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Assigned for a creative non-fiction class this was a wonderful example of family memory. The author spoke to the class explaining the process of research, writing and publication as she approached it. I now own an autographed copy.

[Ciana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was definitely an interesting read, but being a Chicagoan I really wanted to read more about the city and the family interacted with its history.

[Wanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my friend's mother wrote this book and I had the pleasure of meeting her during a book signing. I enjoyed reading this book and learning the family history.

[Denise]

FAVORITE EXCERPTS

"Workers' children were invited annually to a Family Day, when we were given all of the hot dogs and soda pop we could imbibe, and when, best of all, we could climb up onto the airplanes. My father always prepared us carefully for these events, reminding us that many of the people there couldn't speak English as well as we could, might not yet have learned American ways, and might lack the careful manners and decorum we had mastered. I realized much later his ingenuity. He was armoring us ahead of time to cope with any racial insults like those he likely suffered in his daily work. On Family Day he ensured before the fact that we would receive any racist negativity as a sign of deficiency on their part, not ours. Such family strategies succeeded in laying a permanent foundation for inner strength and impregnability to other emotional assaults that American racism would visit upon us from time to time throughout our lives."

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book and the love that was put into writing it. For me it opened up more of my awareness of the varied ways we find our way home and the importance of family that travel this journey with us.

[Russ Revzan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting history.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit tedious and disjointed. Interesting stories.

[Flan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful book! This book tells the story about a family in a hidden demographic in our country. It tells the multi-generational tale of a family that for a hundred years has been a mixed-race family. It is a love story, an homage and a historical document of people seldom mentioned in the history books.

I highly reccommend this little gem.

[Gunter Nitsch · Rating 5 out of 5]

1CAnother Way home 1D is the fascinating (and sometimes shocking) memoir about the lives of several generations of a close knit, multi-racial American family in the American Deep South and, later, in a more normal environment in Chicago. The book is touching and beautifully written. I recommend it whole-heartedly.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

1CAnother Way home 1D is the fascinating (and sometimes shocking) memoir about the lives of several generations of a close knit, multi-racial American family in the American Deep South and, later, in a more normal environment in Chicago. The book is touching and beautifully written. I recommend it whole-heartedly.

[Margaret McCamant]

I'm reading this now, but talked about it at the book group and it's been chosen for October. I met the author at a meeting when I invited her to sit in the empty seat next to me. We discovered a number of common interests and friends, and she sent me a copy of her book.

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was good, but not what I expected....

[Angie]

beautiful portrait of a family with strong ties and a mother like i could never be.

[Mike Burke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A woman's memoir about growing up as a bi-racial woman in Chicago.