In the Shadow of the Hanging Tree: A Memoir

by Katherine Baxter

In the Shadow of the Hanging Tree is the memoir of a white woman's search for greater understanding of the impact of racism on American life and on the way school children are taught. Her story begins when, at the age of nine, she went to Texas with her family and found herself in a world divided into black and white. She saw that black people were not treated well and no one on the white side of the world seemed to think anything was wrong. The memory of that trip shaped the rest of her life, including her decision to spend a semester at an all-black college. As an elementary school teacher, dismayed to discover that the curriculum portrayed only a world that was white, she searched for books and films about black people, slavery, and the struggle for freedom. The author believed this was important for all of her students, whatever their color. She eventually wrote a curriculum about American slavery that was successfully implemented in a number of schools. It was particularly rewarding to see that white children enjoyed it. In a community noted for its racism, they began to take an interest in black people and to understand the need for the curriculum that helped them do that. This book tells a moving story about the possibilities for change.

139 pages, Paperback

Published June 30, 2020