Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years
Encyclopedia
Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years is a 1993 New York Times
bestselling book of oral history
written by Sarah "Sadie" L. Delany and A. Elizabeth "Bessie" Delany with Amy Hill Hearth. The sisters were the daughters of a former slave who became the first African-American elected Bishop in the Episcopal Church in the United States. The sisters were civil rights pioneers, but their stories were largely unknown until Amy Hill Hearth, a reporter for The New York Times, interviewed them for a feature story in 1991, then expanded her story into book form.
Published by Kodansha
America in New York in September 1993, the book was on the New York Times bestseller lists for 105 weeks. In all editions combined, the book has sold more than five million copies, according to Hearth. The book went on to inspire a Broadway play in 1995 and a CBS
television film in 1999. Since its publication, the book has been added to the curriculum of high school classes and African-American and Women's studies in colleges around the world.
The book has been translated into six languages. In 1995, the book was recognized as one of the "Best Books of 1994" by the American Library Association
. The book was also presented with the Christopher Award
for Literature and an American Booksellers Book of the Year (ABBY) Honor Award
.
The book chronicles the story of their well-lived lives with wit and wisdom. It begins with an idyllic childhood in North Carolina. The sisters had a unique and privileged upbringing. They were raised on the campus of St. Augustine's School (now College) in Raleigh, North Carolina
. Their father, the Rev. Henry B. Delany, was the Vice-Principal of the school. He was born into slavery, but eventually became the first African-American Episcopal Bishop elected in the United States. Their mother, Nanny Logan, was a teacher and administrator. Her parents were a free African American woman and a white Virginia farmer.
The legislation of Jim Crow laws eventually prompted the Delany sisters move to Harlem
. Sadie arrived in New York in 1916, while Bessie relocated two years later.
The sisters were successful career women and civil rights pioneers in their own right. They survived encounters with racism and sexism in different ways, with the support of each other and their family. The sisters set their sights high, with both earning advanced college degrees at a time when this was very rare for women, especially women of color. Both were successful in their professions from the 1920s until retirement.
Sadie attended Pratt Institute
, then transferred to Columbia University
where she earned a bachelor's degree in education in 1920, followed by a master's in education in 1925. She was the first African-American permitted to teach Domestic Science at the high school level in the New York City public school system. She retired in 1960.
Bessie was a 1923 graduate of Columbia University's School of Dental and Oral Surgery. She was the second black woman licensed to practice dentistry in the state of New York. She retired in 1956.
The Delany sisters lived together in Harlem, New York for many years, eventually moving to the Bronx while it was still rural, and finally to Mt. Vernon, New York, where they bought a house with a garden on a quiet street. Neither ever married, and the two lived together all of their lives.
After Bessie's death in 1995, Sadie and Hearth wrote a third book called On My Own At 107: Reflections on Life Without Bessie. The book follows Sadie through the first year after Bessie's death. It includes watercolor illustrations, by Brian m. Kotzky, of Bessie's favorite flowers from her garden. The book was a national bestseller.
In 2003, Hearth wrote The Delany Sisters Reach High, an illustrated children's biography of the Delany sisters, focusing on their childhood. Published by Abingdon Press
, the book is illustrated by the award-winning artist, Tim Ladwig. It is part of the educational curriculum target for first through third grade reading classes.
, artistic director of the McCarter Theatre
in Princeton, New Jersey
, adapted Hearth's book for the stage. The play adaptation, Having Our Say, debuted on April 6, 1995 at the Booth Theatre
on Broadway
in New York City
, and later toured the United States.
, Jeffrey S. Grant, and Judith R. James. The telefilm starred Ruby Dee
as Bessie Delany, Diahann Carroll as Sadie Delany, and Amy Madigan
as Amy Hill Hearth. The film first aired on CBS on April 18, 1999, just three months after Sadie died. In 2000, the film was honored with the Peabody Award
for Excellence in Television and the Christopher Award
for Outstanding TV and Cable Programming.
for eight grade.
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
bestselling book of oral history
Oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...
written by Sarah "Sadie" L. Delany and A. Elizabeth "Bessie" Delany with Amy Hill Hearth. The sisters were the daughters of a former slave who became the first African-American elected Bishop in the Episcopal Church in the United States. The sisters were civil rights pioneers, but their stories were largely unknown until Amy Hill Hearth, a reporter for The New York Times, interviewed them for a feature story in 1991, then expanded her story into book form.
Published by Kodansha
Kodansha
, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...
America in New York in September 1993, the book was on the New York Times bestseller lists for 105 weeks. In all editions combined, the book has sold more than five million copies, according to Hearth. The book went on to inspire a Broadway play in 1995 and a CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
television film in 1999. Since its publication, the book has been added to the curriculum of high school classes and African-American and Women's studies in colleges around the world.
The book has been translated into six languages. In 1995, the book was recognized as one of the "Best Books of 1994" by the American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
. The book was also presented with the Christopher Award
Christopher Award
The Christopher Award is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, motion pictures and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit"...
for Literature and an American Booksellers Book of the Year (ABBY) Honor Award
Book Sense Book of the Year
The Indies Choice Book Award is an American literary award inaugurated at BookExpo America 2000...
.
New York Times article
On September 22, 1991, an article, written by Hearth, was published in The New York Times, introducing the then-unknown Delany sisters to a large audience. Among those who read Hearth's story was a New York book publisher who asked her to write a full-length book on the sisters. Hearth and the sisters agreed to collaborate, working closely for two years to create the book.Book synopsis
Having Our Say presents an historically accurate, nonfiction account of the trials and tribulations the Delany sisters faced during their century of life. The book offers positive images and details of African-American (they preferred "colored") life in the 1890s.The book chronicles the story of their well-lived lives with wit and wisdom. It begins with an idyllic childhood in North Carolina. The sisters had a unique and privileged upbringing. They were raised on the campus of St. Augustine's School (now College) in Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
. Their father, the Rev. Henry B. Delany, was the Vice-Principal of the school. He was born into slavery, but eventually became the first African-American Episcopal Bishop elected in the United States. Their mother, Nanny Logan, was a teacher and administrator. Her parents were a free African American woman and a white Virginia farmer.
The legislation of Jim Crow laws eventually prompted the Delany sisters move to Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
. Sadie arrived in New York in 1916, while Bessie relocated two years later.
The sisters were successful career women and civil rights pioneers in their own right. They survived encounters with racism and sexism in different ways, with the support of each other and their family. The sisters set their sights high, with both earning advanced college degrees at a time when this was very rare for women, especially women of color. Both were successful in their professions from the 1920s until retirement.
Sadie attended Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private art college in New York City located in Brooklyn, New York, with satellite campuses in Manhattan and Utica. Pratt is one of the leading undergraduate art schools in the United States and offers programs in Architecture, Graphic Design, History of Art and Design,...
, then transferred to Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
where she earned a bachelor's degree in education in 1920, followed by a master's in education in 1925. She was the first African-American permitted to teach Domestic Science at the high school level in the New York City public school system. She retired in 1960.
Bessie was a 1923 graduate of Columbia University's School of Dental and Oral Surgery. She was the second black woman licensed to practice dentistry in the state of New York. She retired in 1956.
The Delany sisters lived together in Harlem, New York for many years, eventually moving to the Bronx while it was still rural, and finally to Mt. Vernon, New York, where they bought a house with a garden on a quiet street. Neither ever married, and the two lived together all of their lives.
The reason we've lived this long is because we never married. We never had husbands to worry us to death!
—Bessie Delany in Having Our Say
Followup books
After the publication of the book, the Delany sisters received numerous letters from people seeking advice, life direction, and encouragement. Raised with Southern charm, the sisters believed they should answer each and every letter. Etiquette gave way to practicality and the sisters, again with Hearth, wrote, The Delany Sisters' Book of Everyday Wisdom. Published in 1994, the book offered recipes, as well as photos of the sisters doing yoga.After Bessie's death in 1995, Sadie and Hearth wrote a third book called On My Own At 107: Reflections on Life Without Bessie. The book follows Sadie through the first year after Bessie's death. It includes watercolor illustrations, by Brian m. Kotzky, of Bessie's favorite flowers from her garden. The book was a national bestseller.
In 2003, Hearth wrote The Delany Sisters Reach High, an illustrated children's biography of the Delany sisters, focusing on their childhood. Published by Abingdon Press
Abingdon Press
Abingdon Press is the book publishing arm of the United Methodist Publishing House which publishes sheet music, ministerial resources, Bible-study aids, and other items, often with a focus on Methodism and Methodists. Abingdon Press was begun in the early 1900s by The Methodist Church, and is...
, the book is illustrated by the award-winning artist, Tim Ladwig. It is part of the educational curriculum target for first through third grade reading classes.
Broadway play
In 1995, Emily MannEmily Mann (director)
Emily Mann, born April 12, 1952, is the multi-award–winning Artistic Director and Resident Playwright of McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey, where she has overseen over 85 productions....
, artistic director of the McCarter Theatre
McCarter Theatre
McCarter Theatre is a not-for-profit, professional company on the campus of Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. It is one of the most active cultural centers in the nation, offering over 200 performances of theater, dance, music and special events each year...
in Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
, adapted Hearth's book for the stage. The play adaptation, Having Our Say, debuted on April 6, 1995 at the Booth Theatre
Booth Theatre
The Booth Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 222 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan, New York City.Architect Henry B. Herts designed the Booth and its companion Shubert Theatre as a back-to-back pair sharing a Venetian Renaissance-style façade...
on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and later toured the United States.
CBS telefilm
In 1999, Emily Mann, who had previously adapted the book to the Broadway stage, wrote a screenplay for CBS television. The executive producers included Camille O. CosbyBill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
, Jeffrey S. Grant, and Judith R. James. The telefilm starred Ruby Dee
Ruby Dee
Ruby Dee is an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and activist, perhaps best known for co-starring in the film A Raisin in the Sun and the film American Gangster for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Early years:Dee was born Ruby...
as Bessie Delany, Diahann Carroll as Sadie Delany, and Amy Madigan
Amy Madigan
Amy Marie Madigan is an American actress who is known for her role as Annie Kinsella in the 1989 film Field of Dreams and Iris Crowe in the HBO television series Carnivale...
as Amy Hill Hearth. The film first aired on CBS on April 18, 1999, just three months after Sadie died. In 2000, the film was honored with the Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
for Excellence in Television and the Christopher Award
Christopher Award
The Christopher Award is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, motion pictures and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit"...
for Outstanding TV and Cable Programming.
Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test
An excerpt was used on the 2011 Next Generation FCATFlorida Comprehensive Assessment Test
The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or the FCAT , is the standardized test used in the primary and secondary public schools of Florida...
for eight grade.
See also
Further reading
- Delany, Sarah L., A. Elizabeth Delany, and Amy Hill Hearth. Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years, New York: Kodansha America, 210 pages, 1993. ISBN 978-1568360102
- Delany, Sarah L., A. Elizabeth Delany, and Amy Hill Hearth. The Delany Sisters' Book of Everyday Wisdom, New York: Kodansha America, 133 pages, 1994. ISBN 978-1568360423
- Delany, Sarah L., and Amy Hill Hearth. On My Own at 107: Reflections on Life Without Bessie, San Francisco: Harper, 149 pages, 1997. ISBN 978-0062514851
- Hearth, Amy Hill. The Delany Sisters Reach High, New York: Abingdon Press, 32 pages, 2003. ISBN 978-0687030743