A Nickel and a Prayer

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Acknowledgments xv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS W hen I arrived at Clemson University in the summer of 2007, I began looking for a book by a South Carolina writer for my African American literature students. A volunteer at the Pendleton Historic Foundation recommended Pendleton native Jane Edna Hunter’s autobiography A Nickel and a Prayer. I was unfamiliar with Hunter but welcomed the opportunity to introduce my students to a local writer. My initial search for the book was challenging. Clemson’s librarians informed me that their only copy, tucked away in Special Collections, was too fragile for circulation, so they created an electronic copy for my class. I was fortunate to find a signed copy on the internet to purchase for myself. As my students and I neared the end of our enlightening discussions of Hunter’s narrative, I asked them to share their reactions to the final chapter , “Fireside Musings.” They looked puzzled, even after I offered hints to nudge their memories. We soon realized we were reading different editions of the text; my edition contained “Fireside Musings,” and my students’ edition did not. I was so intrigued by our discovery that I submitted a proposal to Clemson’s Creative Inquiry program, which enabled me to give a team of undergraduates the opportunity to help conduct archival research for this annotated edition of A Nickel and a Prayer. I am grateful to West Virginia University Press for its commitment to the recovery of African American literary history and its support of scholarly collaborations. Carrie Mullen has given enormous support to this projACK KN K ENT ED OW NOW WLE GM ME DG TS T A A xvi Acknowledgments ect, as well as my editors, Joycelyn Moody and John Ernest, who have carefully and thoughtfully read and responded to my work. I would also like to thank the librarians at the Western Reserve Historical Society Library, Avery Center for the Study of African American Life and Culture, South Carolina Historical Society, Pendleton Historic Foundation, Ohio Historical Society, Clemson University Cooper Library, Cleveland Public Library, and the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress for their assistance in enabling me to access a variety of important documents and details. I am especially indebted to Mandy Mastrovita, Digital Production Librarian at Clemson, and her students for creating an electronic version of the text, and to Barbara Abernethy, Ellen Harrison, and Betsy Johnson who assisted me in locating Anderson County property records. Additionally, I am grateful for the contributions of many others to this project. My colleagues Susanna Ashton, Cameron Bushnell, Jonathan Field, Michael LeMahieu, Brian McGrath, Michelle Martin, Kimberly Manganelli , Lee Morrissey, Angela Naimou, Barbara Ramirez, Elisa Sparks, Timothy Drake, and members of my Race Theory and Rhetoric Reading Group supported my research and responded to my drafts. Clemson’s Department of English, College of Architecture, Arts, and Humanities, particularly Chip Egan, the Humanities Foundation, and the Women’s Studies Program funded research trips to Cleveland and Charleston. My Creative Inquiry Team— Philip Benvenuto, Chelcee Coffman, Hattie Duplechain, Tristan Endsley, Virginia Kerr, Julie Levans, Margaret Nicholson, Elizabeth Peaks, Devin Slipke, Lindsay McCullough, Michael Cameron Whiteside, and especially Camille Nelson who continued to assist me even after she graduated—completed a variety of research projects. Students in my African-American Literature class—Neil Barrett, Amy Chandler, Antwaun Dennis, Scott Dunlap, Colleen Gleeson, Romare Hodges, Candace Wiley, and Sawsan Zainal— initially read and discussed the book with me. I am also appreciative of many family members and friends who have continually expressed enthusiasm for the project. Most of all, I am thankful for my beloved husband and best friend William L. Thomas Jr., who supports my academic pursuits and enriches my life. ...