Bibb Country: Unearthing My Family Secrets of Land, Legacy—and Lettuce

by Lonnae O'Neal

Bibb Country follows Lonnae O'Neal back in time as she pieces together generations of her family history against the sweep of American history, unearthing hidden triumphs, traumas, and a specialty strain of lettuce along the way.
"Bibb Country is a searing meditation on one American family's tangled origins [...] Lonnae O'Neal stares history in the face and doesn't blink once."
—Jabari Asim, author of We Can't Breathe
"O'Neal is a wonder and a truth-teller."
—Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
Five years ago, Lonnae O'Neal grabbed some seeds for her backyard garden, including seeds for Bibb lettuce. She had no idea how deeply she'd wind up digging, or how far she would travel.
Lonnae's fourth great-grandmother, Keziah, was enslaved by the Kentucky Bibb family, including John Bigger Bibb, who developed the Bibb lettuce strain, which remains a culinary darling more than 150 years later. John Bigger Bibb was executor of his father Major Richard Bibb's will, which freed Keziah and dozens of other Black Bibbs decades before the Civil War, leaving them with a powerful, complicated legacy.
Major Bibb is widely believed to have fathered one of Keziah's granddaughters. Another white Bibb, or Bibb-adjacent enslaver, whose identity is shrouded in mystery, fathered Keziah's grandson, who is the beginning of the line for Lonnae.
Through historical records, genealogical science, oral histories, and interviews, Lonnae brings Bibb family stories (both Black and white) to life, and traces the legacy of the Black Bibbs' migration from Kentucky to Southern Illinois, and beyond.
A mix of memoir, food history, and cultural critique, Bibb Country explores what it means to be descended, through enslavement, from a family whose wealth and power helped shape a nation, and confronts the history that echoes through one family's generations, and, by extension, every generation of America.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, History

348 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 17, 2025

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the acestral stories in this book. The reflection back on family stories that she may have never known had she not written the book. There was some wit and humor in it also.

[B. Gentle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though memoir at its core, Bibb Country is equally a reckoning with justice—and injustice. O’Neal lays bare the ways slavery’s legacies endure: through stolen land, disinvestment in Black communities, sexual violence against Black women, and intergenerational harm.

At the same time, she highlights Black ingenuity, entrepreneurship, and collective achievement, offering a fuller portrait of survival and self-determination.

Bibb Country is a layered and compelling read, weaving genealogy, food history, and family narrative into a broader meditation on Black history and American identity. O’Neal’s reporting shines in her meticulous tracing of records, even when the lettuce lore got a little “in the weeds” for me.

Ultimately, this memoir is about inheritance: both the resilience and brilliance of Black families and the unyielding shadow of slavery’s legacy. I recommend it to readers who value history, genealogy, and a deeper understanding of the Black experience—and the ways America’s past still, and likely always will, blooms in our present.

[Graeme Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lonnae O'Neal delivers a deeply personal and historically resonant memoir in Bibb Country, weaving together family history, genealogy, and American cultural legacy. Beginning with a seemingly simple connection to gardening, O’Neal traces the origins of Bibb lettuce and uncovers a far more complex narrative tied to slavery, land ownership, and generational memory. The book explores the intertwined histories of the Bibb family, both Black and white, revealing how personal ancestry reflects broader national histories of power, displacement, and survival.

Through meticulous research and reflective storytelling, O’Neal blends memoir with food history and cultural critique, creating a layered narrative that is both intimate and expansive. The result is a compelling exploration of identity and inheritance that challenges readers to reconsider how history is carried through families and communities. Bibb Country is a thoughtful and revealing work for readers of memoir, food history, and American studies.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book starts out great. O'Neal is a great writer with an interesting story to tell involving Black and white descendants of a Kentucky farmer, lettuce, and her own discovery of these connections. The first third was beautifully written and informative. After that the book becomes so scattered and unfocused that it was hard to read, mostly stories about her family members, including a whole chapter about her father who was not a Bibb. I think the author is trying to give a general picture of what it is like to be Black in America, and while she portrays that well, it's not the story that the book claims it's going to be telling. I wanted to hear more about her time at the Bibb reunion, how the white descendants reacted to the Black Bibbs, the lettuce itself - she could've shown a lot about the racial history of America while sticking to the story of the Bibbs, which is of course the very reason why Bibb lettuce made for such a good inspiration for the book.

[Jean Mader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bibb Country by Lonnae O’Neal is an unusual and very interesting book about Bibb lettuce and the almost 200 history of the Bibb family, in Kentucky. Just as there are many kinds of lettuce, there are many kinds of people and races that make up the Bibb family genealogy. Salad toppings and slavers and family struggles get equal, and very interesting attention in this book. (And even manatees play a part in the history of Bibb lettuce.) The author truly poured her heart into this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Andscape books for an advance review copy. This is my honest review.

[Norah Baron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book. I wanted a book to read for Juneteenth and Sharronsayso recommended this one. The history of Bibb lettuce was quite interesting and the story of the former slaves of the person behind Bibb lettuce was interesting too. Worth a read.

[Mark Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

4½ stars. A Washington Post reporter describes her family’s history from pre-Civil War enslavement through to the present. With raw honesty, family secrets are shared and a myriad of interactions between the white and black worlds are meditated on.

[Glenn Stenquist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and worthwhile book to keep you grounded

[Carmen Fields · Rating 3 out of 5]

challenging

This is important and well researched. At times it is hard to follow, but the lessons learned are sound and important for Black and white alike.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bibb Country: Unearthing My Family Secrets of Land, Legacy—and Lettuce by Lonnae O’ Neal is a well-written, fascinating, poignant memoir. This book was a very interesting read that I really enjoyed. A huge thank you to Hyperion Avenue/Andscape, the author and NetGalley for the eARC of the book.

This captivating book is exploration of Bibb lettuce and the nearly 200 year Bibb family history, residing in Kentucky. Lonnae O’ Neal does an exceptional job of taking her readers back in time to compile together her genealogical family history against the vast, seriously complex history of America. She uncovers traumas and triumphs along her journey. Her incredible story is a mix of family, legacy, land, food history and growing Bibb lettuce.

To be Black in America is to grapple with identity and belonging. It is a fight for legacy and dignity. It is a reclamation of land, freedom and what’s rightfully ours.