Yesterday’s “Civil Rights Memoir #94” was the end of the line for Sara’s writings. She typed up her memories of her life and those trying times of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s in the early 1990s and never updated them. I’ve had a wonderful time putting them online and reading your comments, and my most fervent wish is that we all have a better understanding of what a remarkable life Sara led, both personally and professionally. I wish there was another year’s worth of memories to share, but she took those with her in 2009. I do have one audiotape recorded by her grandson, Jim, as part of an Ole Miss class project just a few weeks before she died, and when I am feeling especially brave I will listen and transcribe that tape. As I suppose the case is with any child, no matter what age, I teeter on a thin point of emotional balance when it comes to my parents and their absence, and I’m simply not yet ready to threaten that equilibrium. When I do, those of you who have been faithful to this blog since that stormy April day last year when we started will be the first to know. Check back, and thank you.
Mary Carol
daughterofthedelta 
Bravo! Thank you so much for the past year. I’m going to miss checking this everyday. I’ve got to bring mom, Leigh, and the kids up to Greenwood soon. Thanks again.
Bart, it’s been wonderful knowing you were out there every day….Hope this helped you just a tiny bit in getting through a tough residency. I hope we’ll see y’all in Greenwood soon. Miss you.
I enjoyed every single word, all over again. What a loving and courageous gift full of generosity and grace. Thank you.
Thx, Debbie. Wish you could have known her.
Sent from my iPhone
Thank you for sharing with us! Your mom was a jewel. I have enjoyed this soooo much!
Mary Carol,
Thanks for posting your mother’s observations. I have been researching the life of Fr. Nathaniel Machesky from the St. Francis mission. (See my article in the Journal of Mississippi History.) Your mother’s writing provides fascinating insights into events surrounding the Civil Rights Movement in Greenwood. I have not yet read all of your posts, but look forward to learning more about life in Greenwood during the 1960s.
Paul T. Murray
Professor of Sociology
Siena College
Loudonville, NY
Dr. Murray,
Thank you for your comments and feedback. I enjoyed your article on Father Macheskey (and, coincidentally, I am President of the Mississippi Historical Society, which publishes the Journal, this year) and I well remember my mother’s interactions with him. There were participants in the Civil Rights movement for whom she had no use whatsoever, but I always had the impression that she and Father Nathaniel held a grudging admiration for each other. Please do let me know if you’re ever down this way.
Mary Carol
I miss this blog. Woke up this morning missing it. Not just my grandmother, but this blog. And then I realized …. maybe you should start writing your own about growing up in Mississippi. And that way, we could have more. Just a thought (cause you aren’t really that busy or anything and I need more South way up here in New York)
love you
Aw, that’s sweet. I miss it, too, and I keep looking at this little tape recorder with the “last lecture” on it. There may be some real nuggets in there. And I have thought about picking up with Sara’s memoirs circa 1954 (no snide comments from you, young ‘un!) and carrying them forward from my perspective. But nothing exciting happened in my life until the Summer of ’80…….