Books
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When All God’s Children Get Together
A Celebration of the Lives and Music of African American People in Far Western North Carolina
For seven years, Ann researched, photographed, and wrote about Black history in the mountain region of North Carolina. She produced a book titled When All God’s Children Get Together: A Celebration of the Lives and Music of African American People in Far Western North Carolina.
Ann says, “Over my lifetime, I heard many stories about my family’s history and the other African American families in my community of Happytop in Andrews, North Carolina. One day I looked at my parents, Purel and Margaret Miller, whom I will always love, and I felt a heart full of gratitude. Daddy worked, and Mama sang like an angel. I knew I needed to share their story.
No one had written stories of the Black people in the territory west of Asheville, and also how our people arrived in the far western North Carolina region, so I took on the task. I realized that if I did not research these families and write their stories, many of the elders would pass away, leaving Black lives ‘invisible’. It took five years to research and write about churches, schools, preachers, teachers, and veterans. It took two more years to have the book produced and published before my God-given vision became a reality.”
This is a Monumental Work.
“This is a monumental work. Ann Miller Woodford has gathered an astonishing amount of information, including old letters, church records, unpublished and previously published histories, mementos and diaries. She has spent some 7 years, visiting family elders, cemeteries and the abandoned sites of churches, factories and villages.…she began to weave this awesome tapestry of an “invisible culture” that not only survived trials and tribulations of the past 200 years, but actually fostered a vital energy and grew stronger.”
~ Gary Carden, WNC Storyteller and Playwright
“This book reveals the powerful story of a people who have been largely invisible in their own homeland. With extraordinary images and gripping narratives, Ann Miller Woodford opens a door to the homes, churches, and daily lives of the African American people of far Western North Carolina. She unflinchingly captures the horrors imposed under Jim Crow, but also the kindness and decency of the mountain people, who offered friendship and a helping hand to their Black neighbors. You can almost hear the music… you can feel the pain, the heartbreak, the striving. Like any great drama, All God’s Children deals with obstacles and tragedy. But, ultimately, obstacles are overcome, and tragic circumstances yield to the indomitable human spirit. Historians and genealogists will treasure this book, but so will all who love humanity, America, the Southern Appalachians… and a great tale, told with grace and total honesty.”
“Ann Miller Woodford sees beauty everywhere she looks: in her mountains of Western North Carolina, in nature, in family, in music, in faith, in truth. And she has captured that beauty—without ignoring the anguish—in her long-awaited book, When All God’s Children Get Together: A Celebration of the Lives and Music of African American People in Far Western North Carolina. The book is more than history, one seven years in the making. It’s the story of life itself.
And it’s certainly worth your time and attention.”
$45.00 ( includes S&H) + Tax Price for shipping based on USPS fees in 2020 and may change if fees are raised by the USPS.
39.99
Paperback
ISBN – 13: 978-0-98881 10-0-3
ISBN – 10: 0-9888110-0-6
Size:?8 ½ x 11
624 pages