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Sisters and Rebels: A Struggle for the Soul of America
Three sisters from the South wrestle with orthodoxies of race, sexuality, and privilege.
Descendants of a prominent slaveholding family, Elizabeth, Grace, and Katharine Lumpkin grew up in a culture of white supremacy. But while Elizabeth remained a lifelong believer, her younger sisters chose vastly different lives. Seeking their fortunes in the North, Grace and Katharine reinvented themselves as radical thinkers whose literary works and organizing efforts brought the nation’s attention to issues of region, race, and labor.
In Sisters and Rebels, National Humanities Award–winning historian Jacquelyn Dowd Hall follows the divergent paths of the Lumpkin sisters, who were “estranged and yet forever entangled” by their mutual obsession with the South. Tracing the wounds and unsung victories of the past through to the contemporary moment, Hall revives a buried tradition of Southern expatriation and progressivism; explores the lost, revolutionary zeal of the early twentieth century; and muses on the fraught ties of sisterhood.
Grounded in decades of research, the family’s private papers, and interviews with Katharine and Grace, Sisters and Rebels unfolds an epic narrative of American history through the lives and works of three Southern women.
Descendants of a prominent slaveholding family, Elizabeth, Grace, and Katharine Lumpkin grew up in a culture of white supremacy. But while Elizabeth remained a lifelong believer, her younger sisters chose vastly different lives. Seeking their fortunes in the North, Grace and Katharine reinvented themselves as radical thinkers whose literary works and organizing efforts brought the nation’s attention to issues of region, race, and labor.
In Sisters and Rebels, National Humanities Award–winning historian Jacquelyn Dowd Hall follows the divergent paths of the Lumpkin sisters, who were “estranged and yet forever entangled” by their mutual obsession with the South. Tracing the wounds and unsung victories of the past through to the contemporary moment, Hall revives a buried tradition of Southern expatriation and progressivism; explores the lost, revolutionary zeal of the early twentieth century; and muses on the fraught ties of sisterhood.
Grounded in decades of research, the family’s private papers, and interviews with Katharine and Grace, Sisters and Rebels unfolds an epic narrative of American history through the lives and works of three Southern women.
701 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 21, 2019
63 people are currently reading
809 people want to read
About the author
Jacquelyn Dowd Hall
9 books18 followersJacquelyn Hall’s research interests include U.S. women’s history, southern history, working-class history, oral history, and cultural/intellectual history. She served as president of the Organization of American Historians in 2003–2004 and of the Southern Historical Association in 2001–2002. She was also the founding president of the Labor and Working Class History Association. She was awarded a National Humanities Medal in 1999 for her efforts to deepen the nation’s understanding of and engagement with the humanities. In 1997, she received a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and UNC’s Distinguished Teaching Award for graduate teaching. In addition to her teaching and research, she served as the founding director of the Southern Oral History Program from 1973 to 2011.
Her most recent publication is "The Good Fight," in Mothers and Strangers: Essays on Motherhood from the New South, edited by Samia Serageldin and Lee Smith (UNC Press, 2019). Her next book, Sisters and Rebels: A Struggle of the Soul of America, is forthcoming from W. W. Norton in May 2019.
Her most recent publication is "The Good Fight," in Mothers and Strangers: Essays on Motherhood from the New South, edited by Samia Serageldin and Lee Smith (UNC Press, 2019). Her next book, Sisters and Rebels: A Struggle of the Soul of America, is forthcoming from W. W. Norton in May 2019.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
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June 13, 2019I've been reading this one for over half a month now, and I've only made it to page 79; it's time for me to throw in the towel, folks.
This is a well researched, richly detailed work by a fine writer, but I am just not interested enough to stick with it. I'll put this out on the shelf at the local library, and hopefully, the book will find a more appreciative audience. Though I didn't enjoy it, I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in Southern history.
This is a well researched, richly detailed work by a fine writer, but I am just not interested enough to stick with it. I'll put this out on the shelf at the local library, and hopefully, the book will find a more appreciative audience. Though I didn't enjoy it, I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in Southern history.
December 31, 2019
Hall invested decades in research and has great feeling for the material. This is an exceptionally fine investigation of the complex and contradictory feelings Southerners have toward their region's history. It reads like a good novel, too. Perhaps the best book I've read this year.
December 5, 2022
Excellent book. It is well-written and extensively researched. I moved to the southeastern US nearly 40 years ago, and I am still trying to understand its history. I learned so much from this book about the complexity of this history.
June 26, 2022
Elizabeth, 1881; Grace,-----; and Katherine 1897 were daughters born into a formerly impressive slave holding Georgia family with Governors and Senators in their family tree. Their father, William, was 16 serving the confederate army when the Civil War ended. A failing lawyer, and a long term member of the KKK, he groomed his oldest duaghter by the time she was 16 to be an orator for the refashioned history of the War where all the soldiers were virtuous and their cause was virtuous.
Katherine, at 6, saw her father in all his midlife manliness beat their small black cook. Katherine, even as a child was shocked and new baseness when she saw it.
At 15, she went to Brenau College and absorbed the teachings of John Dewey and the intellectual furvery of the young social sciences. Her belief was that her research could lead her to make social change.She went to get a masters at Columbia and a Dr.s at Madison. During this time, her other most formative involvement was with the robust YWCA where paired with a Black woman of parallet education, her job was to hold discussions groups on college campuses where all the questions of a reintegrated South could be discussed candidly between young woman of both races.
Grace, the more radical of three sisters, married a Jewish radical and supported unions, textile mill strikes, and Communism and wrote her most famous book "To Make My Bread".
Katherine partnered with Dorothy_______, a divorcee with 4 children who obtained a position at Smith College. Due to Dorothy's money and role, Katherine was able to have a subsiderary position at Smith also. Always looking for a better vision, these two visited the USSR and Mexico. In the 50's Dorothy is attacked as being a Communist, looses her job at Smith and therefore Katherine's and finds safety with Dorothy's son in Europe. The other Smith professors, all men, did not in any way defend their colleague.
Later Katherine is drawn to a quieter partner as she works on her best known work which entertwines both her own story as a southern child and a social scientist, "The Making of A Southerner."
Elizabeth has a couple of brief appearances when her Dr. husband drops dead of alcholism and she spends her last days writing a novel which was never published about being born a southerner.
Although, many will be duanted by the size of this book and the level of detail, I found it to be illuminating about Katherine's passion for social change in the context of her Southern Heritage. The books that I have read about the South have been almost entirely fiction and to find a book, rich in documentation about the career lives of women who were born at the time of my grandmother, and who involved themselves in so many of the struggles of the 20th Century, was exciting.
Katherine, at 6, saw her father in all his midlife manliness beat their small black cook. Katherine, even as a child was shocked and new baseness when she saw it.
At 15, she went to Brenau College and absorbed the teachings of John Dewey and the intellectual furvery of the young social sciences. Her belief was that her research could lead her to make social change.She went to get a masters at Columbia and a Dr.s at Madison. During this time, her other most formative involvement was with the robust YWCA where paired with a Black woman of parallet education, her job was to hold discussions groups on college campuses where all the questions of a reintegrated South could be discussed candidly between young woman of both races.
Grace, the more radical of three sisters, married a Jewish radical and supported unions, textile mill strikes, and Communism and wrote her most famous book "To Make My Bread".
Katherine partnered with Dorothy_______, a divorcee with 4 children who obtained a position at Smith College. Due to Dorothy's money and role, Katherine was able to have a subsiderary position at Smith also. Always looking for a better vision, these two visited the USSR and Mexico. In the 50's Dorothy is attacked as being a Communist, looses her job at Smith and therefore Katherine's and finds safety with Dorothy's son in Europe. The other Smith professors, all men, did not in any way defend their colleague.
Later Katherine is drawn to a quieter partner as she works on her best known work which entertwines both her own story as a southern child and a social scientist, "The Making of A Southerner."
Elizabeth has a couple of brief appearances when her Dr. husband drops dead of alcholism and she spends her last days writing a novel which was never published about being born a southerner.
Although, many will be duanted by the size of this book and the level of detail, I found it to be illuminating about Katherine's passion for social change in the context of her Southern Heritage. The books that I have read about the South have been almost entirely fiction and to find a book, rich in documentation about the career lives of women who were born at the time of my grandmother, and who involved themselves in so many of the struggles of the 20th Century, was exciting.
July 1, 2019
So I liked this book in the beginning and it could've been at least four stars, but it really began going down hill. I thought this book was going to be about this family, the Lumpkins, and how their views may have actually shaped the South. Instead, it was more of a biography of the three sisters, Elizabeth, Grace and Katharine, how they had a privileged upbringing, and how their views may or may not have changed in respects to segregation and Reconstruction.
I didn't quite get what the "soul of America" was supposed to be in the book...is the South supposed to be the soul of America now? Is the Lumpkin family the soul? I really feel as though I didn't get a clear answer to this. If the phrase "soul of America" is in the subtitle of the book, it should probably get some more explanation (or maybe that's just me). People's views change, as in the case of Grace and Katharine.....or they don't change, like their older sister Elizabeth. Grace and Katharine went to college and never seemed to leave, going from college to college. Elizabeth, on the other hand, got married and had kids, all while staying in the South.
To be fair, the writing was engaging and it was well researched, but much of the book seemed to meander. I found the sister's earlier years to be much more fascinating than the later years. The author seemed to kind of forget about Elizabeth until nearing the end of the book, almost as if her life wasn't as interesting....this is just my opinion though.
I didn't quite get what the "soul of America" was supposed to be in the book...is the South supposed to be the soul of America now? Is the Lumpkin family the soul? I really feel as though I didn't get a clear answer to this. If the phrase "soul of America" is in the subtitle of the book, it should probably get some more explanation (or maybe that's just me). People's views change, as in the case of Grace and Katharine.....or they don't change, like their older sister Elizabeth. Grace and Katharine went to college and never seemed to leave, going from college to college. Elizabeth, on the other hand, got married and had kids, all while staying in the South.
To be fair, the writing was engaging and it was well researched, but much of the book seemed to meander. I found the sister's earlier years to be much more fascinating than the later years. The author seemed to kind of forget about Elizabeth until nearing the end of the book, almost as if her life wasn't as interesting....this is just my opinion though.
November 10, 2023
This book is nominally about three sisters who were raised in the late 1800's/early 1900s in the south. Each of the three sisters followed a different path. Elizabeth Lumpkin stayed loyal to the mind set of the Lost Cause and the superiority of the "white" race. Grace and Katherine through off their childhood beliefs and embraced the fight for racial, gender and class equality. Toward the end of her life Grace returned to her roots while Katherine continued to fight this fight into her 80s.
I said that the book was nominally about these sisters but it was really about the amazing societal changes that took place during the first half of the 20th century. Some of it was a complete surprise to me. For example, I had always thought of the YWCA as the quiet little sister of the YMCA. In fact the YWCA is an entirely separate organization and was very active in unionization, desegregation, women's rights and lobbying for a broad social safety net for impoverished people during the depression.
The only problem I had with the book was it's length. At nearly 500 pages (plus footnotes etc.) it would be better presented as a textbook for a course in America's social history than as a simple biography.
I said that the book was nominally about these sisters but it was really about the amazing societal changes that took place during the first half of the 20th century. Some of it was a complete surprise to me. For example, I had always thought of the YWCA as the quiet little sister of the YMCA. In fact the YWCA is an entirely separate organization and was very active in unionization, desegregation, women's rights and lobbying for a broad social safety net for impoverished people during the depression.
The only problem I had with the book was it's length. At nearly 500 pages (plus footnotes etc.) it would be better presented as a textbook for a course in America's social history than as a simple biography.
July 4, 2024
The Lumpkin sisters, who are the subject of this book, are ancestors of a neighbor who leant me the book. A lot of it was very interesting, especially the history of the city in which I have lived for forty years. The author has done extensive research and the book is quite detailed so became tedious in spots. Because of the involvement by the sisters in social issues, there is a lot of history which kept me hanging in until the end.
August 27, 2020
Absolutely fantastic book about three sisters, Elizabeth, Grace, and Katherine Lumpkin who I had never heard of prior to reading this book. Their intellectual journey takes Grace and Katherine out of the deep south, and challenges their long-held views on race, class, and gender. The oldest sister, Elizabeth, continues with her families southern traditions, while the younger sisters go on to critique the south, and ultimately manage to reinvent themselves through literature and scholarly work.
A fascinating historical account that we can all benefit from reading right now!
A fascinating historical account that we can all benefit from reading right now!
October 14, 2021
3.5 Incredibly well-researched. New perspectives for me on American history in early 1900s, through the lens of these Southern women. I’m grateful for any story that uplifts women who were independent thinkers in a time when that wasn’t as appreciated as it is today, and applaud their tenacity to pursue what meant something to them. Still, it wasn’t always a pleasurable read as I felt a bit bogged down in details in several places. I found myself thinking about what sort of college paper I would have written if I’d read this in a course 20+ years ago.
May 20, 2020
Sisters and Rebels describe so many issues of racism, sex discrimination and people who feel privileged due to their financial circumstances. Unfortunately many of these attitudes still exist today. Ms. Hall did a good job of describing these issues and how the three sisters handled them.
August 18, 2019
I happened upon this on the shelf at the library and thought it looked interesting. I had never heard of Katharine Lumpkin or her less well known sisters, but their respective journeys from the heart of the southern Lost Cause/KKK culture were fascinating. I know not very much about the south, and this book filled a lot of gaps in my understanding. It was particularly sad to read how the middle sister, Grace, was a deeply progressive leftist during the heyday of American interest in communism, but by the 1950s had done a complete 180 and repudiated all her liberal, antiracist, and progressive history. Katharine came across as the most interesting and consistent of the three, never betraying the ideals she developed as a young woman right out of college. I didn't know how the YWCA came to be, or how committed it was to antiracist work, that was all new to me.
While I agree with other reviewers that perhaps the 'soul of America' subtitle is overstating the case a little, it is true that in many ways America has never shed the stubborn layer of racism and regressive conservatism that we see break out occasionally, as we are seeing now. If America has a soul, it is still as deeply divided and even corrupt as it was when Katharine Lumpkin tried to make it better. This story of the development of the US in the 20th century is told from a new point of view, and it's extremely enlightening.
Two very useful items I first learned of in this book: The memo written from the US military to French authorities during WWI which asked them not to treat black troops with courtesy as it would ruin them for American life (https://slate.com/human-interest/2016... and the fact that the epithet 'socialist' was used to decry legislation to end child labor. Honestly. We suck.
While I agree with other reviewers that perhaps the 'soul of America' subtitle is overstating the case a little, it is true that in many ways America has never shed the stubborn layer of racism and regressive conservatism that we see break out occasionally, as we are seeing now. If America has a soul, it is still as deeply divided and even corrupt as it was when Katharine Lumpkin tried to make it better. This story of the development of the US in the 20th century is told from a new point of view, and it's extremely enlightening.
Two very useful items I first learned of in this book: The memo written from the US military to French authorities during WWI which asked them not to treat black troops with courtesy as it would ruin them for American life (https://slate.com/human-interest/2016... and the fact that the epithet 'socialist' was used to decry legislation to end child labor. Honestly. We suck.
June 18, 2020
only at p. 70 of 900, so obviously a tentative 5 star rating. I see that some readers found the book too long or detailed, so will update my review/rating later.
With libraries closed, I stumbled upon this while browsing what eBooks are available. With my interests in history, culture, ethics, race, and politics, this appears a gem. The writer, Jacquelyn Hall, is a southern historian scholar so the research is solid; and she has access to the personal diaries and letters of the 3 gifted sisters (writers, orators) so we have first-hand looks at how these daughters of the Old South and its 'Last Cause' myths evolved their own beliefs (multiple times) while growing up under fervent racist parents.
With libraries closed, I stumbled upon this while browsing what eBooks are available. With my interests in history, culture, ethics, race, and politics, this appears a gem. The writer, Jacquelyn Hall, is a southern historian scholar so the research is solid; and she has access to the personal diaries and letters of the 3 gifted sisters (writers, orators) so we have first-hand looks at how these daughters of the Old South and its 'Last Cause' myths evolved their own beliefs (multiple times) while growing up under fervent racist parents.
January 15, 2020
Sisters and Rebels: A Struggle for the Soul of America (Hardcover)
by Jacquelyn Dowd Hall
from the library
Contents:
Introduction -- "Southerners of my people's kind" -- "Lest we forget" -- "Contrary streams of influence" -- "The inner motion of change" -- "Far-thinking...professional-minded" women -- "A clear show-down" -- "Getting the world's work done" -- "Writing and New York" -- "Kok-I-House" -- "The heart of the struggle" -- Culture and the crisis -- Miss Lumpkin and Mrs. Douglas -- "Heartbreaking gaps" -- Radical dreams, fascist threats -- Sisters and strangers -- "At the threshold of great promise" -- Wilderness years -- Expatriates return -- Endings.
by Jacquelyn Dowd Hall
from the library
Contents:
Introduction -- "Southerners of my people's kind" -- "Lest we forget" -- "Contrary streams of influence" -- "The inner motion of change" -- "Far-thinking...professional-minded" women -- "A clear show-down" -- "Getting the world's work done" -- "Writing and New York" -- "Kok-I-House" -- "The heart of the struggle" -- Culture and the crisis -- Miss Lumpkin and Mrs. Douglas -- "Heartbreaking gaps" -- Radical dreams, fascist threats -- Sisters and strangers -- "At the threshold of great promise" -- Wilderness years -- Expatriates return -- Endings.
July 19, 2020
Not a beach read! Academic account of 3 sisters who grew up with the myth of the Confederacy but whose lives took unpredictable twists and turns. Lots of history & theory of feminism, race relations and racism as well as regionalism and labor history. The youngest sister lived a closeted lesbian life as well, so history of that era, plus the Red Scare. The lives of the 3 sisters are really pretty amazing, and this is a big, serious book. It can be pretty dense and academic at times, but the writer's passion for the subject comes through. Glad I slogged through it but ready for something lighter after this.
November 29, 2020
A very well-written and compelling (despite its length) history that serves not only as a biography of engaging sisters but traces rarely heard stories of intellectual development, labor unions, communism, and left-wing protest in America between the world wars. Understanding how these women grew beyond the lost cause narrative in which they were raised and adopted a much broader outlook is extremely helpful in seeing how similar fights of viewpoint shape the present.
December 30, 2019
An affirmation of our ability to change how we perceive the world,then to understand,educate, and change it. Nope, not a self-help book, but an inspiring biography of activists striving to make the world a better place, not always succeeding, but always challenging the norm. Nope, not the sixties,either!
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July 10, 2019Intriguing way of exploring the history of race and radicalism in the U.S.
Want to read
August 4, 2019Read about this is NYT Book Review. Karen W might be interested
September 30, 2019
FASCINATING look at three sisters who grew up in a family that enslaved people. The sisters took very different paths in life, and I found Katharine's story the most interesting.
November 8, 2023
Learned more than I wanted to know. Just couldn’t stomach the last half of this 700 page book. Didn’t finish.
December 11, 2024
I can’t wait to re-read it in more depth when I’m not rushing through for finals!
April 13, 2023
This had a good start but it declined with each page. I liked the plot, but I guess the narration and the delivery did not quite get me as excited.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews