What do you think?
Rate this book
The Sweet Hell Inside
The progeny of a South Carolina gentleman and his slave, the Harleston family rose from the ashes of the Civil War to create an American cultural dynasty and achieve an affluence that afforded them the comfort of chauffeurs, tailored clothes, and servants whose skin was darker than theirs. Their wealth also launched them into a generation of glory as painters, performers, and photographers in the "high yellow" society of America's colored upper class. The Harleston's remarkable 100-year journey spans from the waning days of Reconstruction to the precious art world of the early 1900s, down the back alleys of the Jazz Age, and to the dangers of the dawning Civil Rights movement.
Enhanced by the recollections of the family's archivist, 84-year-old Edwina Harleston Whitlock, The Sweet Hell Inside draws characters rarely seen before: cultured, vain, imperfect, rich, and black, a family made up of eccentrics who defied social convention yet whose advantages could not protect them from segregation's locked doors, a plague of early death, and the stigma of children born outside marriage.
This engrossing story raises the curtain on a unique family drama in the pageant of American life and uncovers a fascinating lost world.
Enhanced by the recollections of the family's archivist, 84-year-old Edwina Harleston Whitlock, The Sweet Hell Inside draws characters rarely seen before: cultured, vain, imperfect, rich, and black, a family made up of eccentrics who defied social convention yet whose advantages could not protect them from segregation's locked doors, a plague of early death, and the stigma of children born outside marriage.
This engrossing story raises the curtain on a unique family drama in the pageant of American life and uncovers a fascinating lost world.
6 pages, Audio Cassette
First published November 1, 2001
1 person is currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Edward Ball
39 books98 followersEdward Ball was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1958, grew up in South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana. He finished high school in New Orleans and attended Brown University, graduating in 1982 with a B.A. in Semiotics.
He received a Master of Arts degree from the University of Iowa in 1984, and afterwards moved to New York City, where he worked as a freelance art critic, writing about film, art, architecture, and books for several magazines. For several years, he wrote for The Village Voice, a weekly with a circulation of 450,000.
In 1993, he began to research his family legacy as slave owners in South Carolina, an investigation that resulted in a half-hour National Public Radio documentary, "The Other History," which was awarded, in 1994, Best Radio Feature by the Society of Professional Journalists. He looked deeper into his family's story, documented in several archives, and, after three years, published his first book, Slaves in the Family, about his family's plantations and his search for black Americans whose ancestors the writer's family had once enslaved. Slaves in the Family was a New York Times bestseller and won the National Book Award for nonfiction.
Edward Ball's other books comprise biography, history, and memoir. He has taught at Yale University, and he lives in New Haven, Connecticut.
He received a Master of Arts degree from the University of Iowa in 1984, and afterwards moved to New York City, where he worked as a freelance art critic, writing about film, art, architecture, and books for several magazines. For several years, he wrote for The Village Voice, a weekly with a circulation of 450,000.
In 1993, he began to research his family legacy as slave owners in South Carolina, an investigation that resulted in a half-hour National Public Radio documentary, "The Other History," which was awarded, in 1994, Best Radio Feature by the Society of Professional Journalists. He looked deeper into his family's story, documented in several archives, and, after three years, published his first book, Slaves in the Family, about his family's plantations and his search for black Americans whose ancestors the writer's family had once enslaved. Slaves in the Family was a New York Times bestseller and won the National Book Award for nonfiction.
Edward Ball's other books comprise biography, history, and memoir. He has taught at Yale University, and he lives in New Haven, Connecticut.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 17, 2020
Overall, this was a wonderful family history on the black Harlestons of South Carolina. It mostly tells the story of two of the most accomplished family members: Teddy Harleston, an artist who also helped run the family’s funeral parlor, and Ella Harleston who married Daniel Jenkins and helped run the Jenkins Orphanage in Charleston.
Teddy's story is most representative of the struggles that blacks faced during Jim Crow in the South. He was a very talented and technically sound artist, but he was barred from exhibiting his work in local museums and galleries on account of his race. Sadly, he was also renounced by the Harlem Renaissance for not being “modern enough.” So Teddy mostly worked as a freelance portraitist, at one time receiving a commission to paint the industrialist P. DuPont. For some reason, he never received the full commission for his work and again, my heart broke for this man. Perhaps his greatest legacy is a panel piece that he created with Aaron Douglas for the Fisk University Library in Nashville.
The Jenkins Orphanage is most known for having a street band that produced renowned musicians. One orphan, Jabbo Smith got his start playing the trumpet on the streets of Charleston and ended up playing shows with the likes of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. Jenkins himself was a strict disciplinarian, but gave “inmates” opportunities to travel to London and New York City and make names for themselves. That was pretty cool.
I’d recommend this book to anyone interested in black history, Charleston history, or jazz history. My only real complaint is that Ed Ball did too much at times to contextualize certain aspects of the Harleston story. For instance, because the Harlestons ran a funeral parlor in Charleston for many years, Ball added a 20 page history of embalming in Europe and the United States. I sort of lost interest during these long passages.
Teddy's story is most representative of the struggles that blacks faced during Jim Crow in the South. He was a very talented and technically sound artist, but he was barred from exhibiting his work in local museums and galleries on account of his race. Sadly, he was also renounced by the Harlem Renaissance for not being “modern enough.” So Teddy mostly worked as a freelance portraitist, at one time receiving a commission to paint the industrialist P. DuPont. For some reason, he never received the full commission for his work and again, my heart broke for this man. Perhaps his greatest legacy is a panel piece that he created with Aaron Douglas for the Fisk University Library in Nashville.
The Jenkins Orphanage is most known for having a street band that produced renowned musicians. One orphan, Jabbo Smith got his start playing the trumpet on the streets of Charleston and ended up playing shows with the likes of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. Jenkins himself was a strict disciplinarian, but gave “inmates” opportunities to travel to London and New York City and make names for themselves. That was pretty cool.
I’d recommend this book to anyone interested in black history, Charleston history, or jazz history. My only real complaint is that Ed Ball did too much at times to contextualize certain aspects of the Harleston story. For instance, because the Harlestons ran a funeral parlor in Charleston for many years, Ball added a 20 page history of embalming in Europe and the United States. I sort of lost interest during these long passages.
March 16, 2012
Fascinating account of the History of an African American Family from Slavery to today. The racism encountered. Dreams of success shattered because of Jim Crow and Northern Establishments practices. Also, the pain within the African American community, often divided by how light or dark ones skin is. Not permitted to attend a church if your skin is darker then a yellow panel posted outside the church along with a comb hanging outside the church to see if one can comb through it. The story is from Edwina Harleston Whitlock as told through another author.
The only problem I have with the book, the author dwells and often comes back to the history of music and drops names of musicians often. Although relevant it should only make up a small part of the book.
The only problem I have with the book, the author dwells and often comes back to the history of music and drops names of musicians often. Although relevant it should only make up a small part of the book.
September 14, 2016
I picked up the book because I enjoy history. I enjoy learning information that was unavailable otherwise. And The Sweet Hell Inside offered a deeper look into American life for African-Americans between Reconstruction through the 1960s. Life is a collection of experiences and the Harlestons seemed to be front and center for the Jim Crow era.
Investigative and in depth, the book deals with colorism within the family as well as the push by white America. Beginning the story of their family line with slavery and the power imbalance of that relationship until the Watts riots of the 1960s opens doors on how different life in the South was from the rest of the nation. As more African-Americans migrated from the South following the Union withdrawal in the 1870s and the end of the WWI, South Carolinian impact can't be denied.
One thing I wish the book had included was a little more information on the social/economic/cultural impact from those who escaped the Jenkins' Orphanage, to tie in the different pathways of color in the Harleston line. But it's a minor compliment on the whole. What I learned can be unjustly be boiled down to this: the 1920s and Jazz Age lay their foundation at the hands of scholars and vagrants alike, all looking for a piece of the foreseen future.
Tragedy and heartbreak are a way of life during the Jim Crow era, of families split for long periods of time while searching for an advancement in social ranks. Before social media and even correspondence school, families were broken apart in order to try and hold on to the bigger picture. Edwina, aka Gussie, tells the story of black bourgeoisie "accustomed to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and can stand things more than you-all" whites.
Investigative and in depth, the book deals with colorism within the family as well as the push by white America. Beginning the story of their family line with slavery and the power imbalance of that relationship until the Watts riots of the 1960s opens doors on how different life in the South was from the rest of the nation. As more African-Americans migrated from the South following the Union withdrawal in the 1870s and the end of the WWI, South Carolinian impact can't be denied.
One thing I wish the book had included was a little more information on the social/economic/cultural impact from those who escaped the Jenkins' Orphanage, to tie in the different pathways of color in the Harleston line. But it's a minor compliment on the whole. What I learned can be unjustly be boiled down to this: the 1920s and Jazz Age lay their foundation at the hands of scholars and vagrants alike, all looking for a piece of the foreseen future.
Tragedy and heartbreak are a way of life during the Jim Crow era, of families split for long periods of time while searching for an advancement in social ranks. Before social media and even correspondence school, families were broken apart in order to try and hold on to the bigger picture. Edwina, aka Gussie, tells the story of black bourgeoisie "accustomed to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and can stand things more than you-all" whites.
March 17, 2012
The book was great in certain areas. However, just when I became imeshed into a good story line, the author chose to sprinkle long exerts of historical name-dropping stats about the careers of past musicians. One or two of these exerts is enough, but further on in the book it became tiresome and not noteworthy. There were a few very profound statements made about the degree of racism which was indeed shocking and disheartening. Things I did not know before were revealed.
December 30, 2011
Good read. Recommend.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews