Delany sisters siblings
- •
Works Cited
1Complexities jump up and start multiplying as soon as one looks a little more closely at the Delany sisters’ story1. In fact, there is a whole voyage to be taken before one enters into it. One could begin with the two handwritten signatures that form the only text on the front cover: “Sadie Delany” on top—she was the elder—and “Bessie Delany” below, but positioned slightly more to the right, as if wanting to get out from under the influence of her sister. Obviously, these signatures cannot but give a first impression of the sisters: Sadie’s slanting slightly to the right, as taught in school—she was the teacher of the two—and Bessie’s upright, the more modern and perhaps more professional-looking of the dentist that she was. Rather than giving a title here, Sadie and Bessie, two African-American sisters born in 1889 and in 1891 respectively, sign in, identifying themselves as “authors”.
2When one opens the book and discovers the first title page, with the title Having our Say, the work seems to identify itself as an autobiography, with the “autobiographical pa
- •
Sarah Louise Delany
African-American educator and civil rights activist
Sarah Louise Delany | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1889-09-19)September 19, 1889 Lynch's Station, Campbell County, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | January 25, 1999(1999-01-25) (aged 109) Mount Vernon, New York, U.S. |
| Other names | Sadie Delany |
| Alma mater | St. Augustine's College Pratt Institute, A.A. Columbia University, B.A., M.A. |
| Occupation(s) | Educator, author, activist |
| Family | Samuel R. Delany (nephew) |
Sarah Louise "Sadie" Delany (September 19, 1889 – January 25, 1999) was an American educator and civil rights pioneer. She was the subject, along with her younger sister Bessie, of the oral history biography, Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years, by journalist Amy Hill Hearth. Sadie was the first African American to teach domestic science at the high-school level in the New York public schools. With the publication of the book about the sisters, she became famous at the age of 103.
Biography
Sarah Louise Delany was born on September 19, 1889, in Lynch's Stat
- •
40 pp., 8 x 8
- Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4696-7969-3
Published: December 2023
Buy this Book
This title is not eligible for UNC Press promotional pricing.
To purchase online via an independent bookstore, visit Bookshop.orgDistributed for UNC Charlotte Gerontology Program
Sarah Louise Delany was born September 19, 1889; she was a calm, gentle child her family called “Sweet Sadie.” Her little sister, Annie Elizabeth, was born two years later, on September 3, 1891. Bessie was Just the opposite of Sadie. She was so bossy that she was called “Queen Bess.”
The sisters had eight brothers and sisters. They grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, on the campus of Saint Augstine’s College. Their mother was a teacher, and their father was a minister and vice-principal of the school.
This is the story of the childhood of these two fascinating women who grew up in a time of change when life was often not easy for African Americans. Both their parents encouraged their children to “reach high”: to
Copyright ©bernate.pages.dev 2025