PROUD SHOES

by Pauli Murray ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 17, 1956

In a biography of her grandfather Fitzgerald, Pauli Murray presents a small part of the Pattern of Negro culture in the U.S. For her grandfather was of Irish- African descent, a northern mulatto, one of the few Negro soldiers in the Union Army and a man who took it upon himself to come south after the Civil War to start schools for his ""newly freed"" people in Durham, North Carolina. As such, this review of his life has importance in the history od desegregation, and the author muses of the many shades of meaning and the attitudes Negroes and Whites both hold and attribute to each other. But much as it is essentially a serious social study, the book is individualistically and memorably written. Inductively, it begins with descriptions of Pauli Murray's own childhood and these are peppered with passages which bring the figure of Grandfather Fitzgerald, then blind and aging, to life. This holds true for the entire reconstruction of Fitzgerald's startling background, and the book has warmth and vitality. It should draw the consideration of anyone interested in the south and its problems.

Pub Date: Oct. 17, 1956

ISBN: 0807072095

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1956

Categories: NONFICTION