This Child's Gonna Live
- On View
- Making a Way Gallery
- Museum Maps
- Objects in this Location
- Exhibition
- Making a Way Out of No Way
- Written by
- Wright, Sarah Elizabeth, American, 1928 - 2009
- Published by
- Dell Publishing Co., American, 1929 - 1974
- Date
- 1971
- Medium
- ink on paper
- Dimensions
- H x W: 7 7/8 x 5 1/4 in. (20 x 13.3 cm)
- Description
- A first edition paperback book entitled This Child’s Gonna Live by Sarah E. Wright with a cover that features sepia toned portrait of Sarah E. Wright with off-white text. The upper left-hand corner has publication and pricing information in small white text along with an excerpt from a Chicago Sunday-Times review. Large off-white text justified to the left shows the title [This / Child’s / Gonna / Live]. Beneath this, smaller off-white text reads [by / Sarah E. Wright].
- The back cover is beige with black text and features a synopsis, three reviews, and a biography of Sarah E. Wright.
- This 276-page book follows the main character, Mariah Upshur, wife and mother, living in the fictional fishing village of Tangierneck on Maryland's Eastern Shore in the 1930s. Mariah’s husband, Jacob has been swindled out of his land by rich, white landowners and is forced to choose between working in a system reminiscent of share-cropping or as a fisherman, enduring rough weather. The Upshurs have three sons, a daughter who died prematurely and another daughter with whom Mariah is pregnant. While Jacob oftentimes buckles under the unrelenting systemic forces that oppress his family, Mariah endures her day-to-day trials while remaining determined to create a better future for her children.
- Wright depicts the struggles of poor African American women, who confront the multiple oppressions of class, race, and gender.
- There are no signatures or inscriptions.
- Place depicted
- Eastern Shore, Maryland, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Documents and Published Materials-Published Works
- Movement
- BAM (Black Arts Movement 1965-1976)
- Type
- paperbacks
- Topic
- Agriculture
- American South
- Families
- Literature
- Motherhood
- Poverty
- Rural life
- U.S. History, 1919-1933
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Family of Sarah Elizabeth Wright
- Object number
- 2010.61.14
- Restrictions & Rights
- © 1969 by Sarah E. Wright
- Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.