The Life & Legacy of Enslaved Virginian Emily Winfree is an inspiring tale about a former African American slave and her struggles through the pre-Civil War era, and after the war during Reconstruction and the Jim Crow era. Authors Meck (through narrative) and Refo (through documentation) recount her story to keep her family intact in the face of formidable obstacles after the war: She did everything in her power to hold her children close to her. That she succeeded is a miracle.
“She never stopped trying to make a better life for her children. No matter the challenges, she kept her family together and, through them and their descendants, ultimately prevailed.”
Book Cover, back and front
Emily’s hardscrabble life from early childhood to old age is told in words, photographs, and an impressive number of documents. It is generally rare to find such a treasure trove of details about a female slave’s life, but Emily’s situation was unique. Her master, David Winfree, deeded land and a cottage to her after his death. Many documents were found regarding the cottage, and the deed to and eventual sale of the land. Although these documents survived, researching them remained difficult and many questions about Emily’s life are still unanswered. There are no records of her birth or of her parents, for example.
Even identifying the fathers of her seven children was difficult. David Winfree may have sired up to five of her children. (Emily gave birth to two after his death.) We will probably never be sure about the true number of children he fathered, even though Emily and all her children used the Winfree surname.
The tale brightens as memories of Emily and her daughter Maria are told by Emily Grace Jones Jefferson, Maria’s granddaughter. Emily Grace, now 95, primarily recalls her grandmother, who she affectionately called Grandma “Moosh.” Her memories remain vivid. Sitting at her knee, little Emily Grace listened to her grandmother’s recollections. Via this route the reader is introduced to a more fleshed-out Emily Winfree, matriarch of the family tree.
Maria was a remarkable woman in her own right. Under her guidance, her children learned to speak correct English and, although she could not read or write, she encouraged each child to go to school. Most completed college and all led fine lives. By such means, freed African Americans found ways to live normal lives, despite an era in which their freedoms were deliberately diminished. One minor mistake could cost them their savings or lives or send them to jail. Jackson Ward is described as a once thriving African American community in Richmond, where citizens, neighbors, and shopkeepers supported each other through difficult times. Grandma “Moosh” was a pillar of strength in that community, and quite the character in incidents that Emily Grace recalls in loving detail.
Included in this study are many firsts about the Winfrees: images of the family, Census information, the Freedman’s Bureau Records, a page about “Aunt” Emily in a history of the Manchester Lodge, and deeds and proofs of sale in documents from the Chesterfield County Courthouse. In addition, photographs about the era from the Library of Congress are dispersed throughout its pages.
While I found Emily’s struggles inspiring and Maria’s tale fascinating, Chapter 8, entitled ‘Broken Promises, ‘ immediately caught my attention. This chapter strings my smattering of knowledge about slave history in America into a seamless 100-page narrative. (African American history simply wasn’t taught when I went to High School.) The chapter describes the systematic dismantling of the equal rights and freedoms emancipated slaves expected; the dismantling of their communities, such as Jackson Ward; the push to eliminate the African American vote; President Rutherford B. Hayes’s broken promises after his election; and the collusion of the Supreme Court in ruling against Homer Plessy, an African American who refused to give up his seat in an all-white car. This decision legalized segregation and began the era of “separate but equal”, ie. separate bathrooms, separate seats in public transportation, and humiliations in all walks of life. Finally in 1965, a century after the Civil War, the Supreme Court expanded civil rights in landmark cases, although the U.S. is still struggling with this issue today.
The book ends with a group photo of Emily Winfree’s descendants, their individual photos and a short synopsis of their lives. Its last chapter focuses on celebrating a family that achieved everything their great great grandmother hoped for them — and more!.
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