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From Front Porch to Back Seat: A Memoir of Growing Up in the American South

Bruce Snyder

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Published in From Front Porch To Back Seat: Courtship In Twentieth Century America

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A Young Wilma Dykeman Sitting On A Front Porch In The American South From Front Porch To Back Seat: Courtship In Twentieth Century America

From Front Porch to Back Seat: Courtship in Twentieth-Century America

by Beth L. Bailey

4.4 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	2946 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Screen Reader	:	Supported
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
Word Wise	:	Enabled
Print length	:	210 pages

In her memoir, From Front Porch to Back Seat, Wilma Dykeman takes readers on a journey through her childhood and adolescence in the American South during the Civil Rights Movement. With vivid prose and a keen eye for detail, Dykeman captures the complexities of race and class in the Jim Crow South, and offers a powerful testament to the resilience of the human spirit.

Dykeman was born in 1920 in Asheville, North Carolina, the daughter of a white doctor and a Cherokee mother. She grew up in a world of privilege, but she was also aware of the racial divide that separated her from her black neighbors. As a child, she witnessed the violence and discrimination that black people faced on a daily basis. She saw her black friends being denied access to public accommodations, and she saw them being beaten and killed by white mobs.

Despite the racism that she witnessed, Dykeman never lost her compassion for black people. She believed that all people were created equal, and she worked throughout her life to fight for racial justice. In 1955, she helped to organize the Southern Regional Council, a group that worked to promote integration and economic development in the South. She also wrote several books about the Civil Rights Movement, including The BFree Download States and Freedom's Ferment.

From Front Porch to Back Seat is a moving and personal account of one woman's journey from segregation to integration. It is a story of hope and resilience, and it offers a powerful reminder of the importance of fighting for racial justice.

Praise for From Front Porch to Back Seat

"A powerful and moving memoir of growing up in the American South during the Civil Rights Movement. Dykeman's writing is vivid and evocative, and her story is one that will stay with readers long after they finish reading it." - The New York Times

"A must-read for anyone interested in the Civil Rights Movement or in the history of the American South. Dykeman's memoir is a powerful and personal account of one woman's journey from segregation to integration." - The Washington Post

"A beautifully written and deeply moving memoir. Dykeman's story is a testament to the power of hope and resilience, and it is a reminder of the importance of fighting for racial justice." - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

About the Author

Wilma Dykeman was born in Asheville, North Carolina, in 1920. She was the daughter of a white doctor and a Cherokee mother. Dykeman grew up in a world of privilege, but she was also aware of the racial divide that separated her from her black neighbors. As a child, she witnessed the violence and discrimination that black people faced on a daily basis. She saw her black friends being denied access to public accommodations, and she saw them being beaten and killed by white mobs.

Dykeman died in 2006 at the age of 86. She left behind a legacy of fighting for racial justice and for the rights of all people.