‘An offer of my heart’: A story of black love after the Civil WarPosted in Articles, History, Slavery, United States on 2016-09-09 16:53Z by Steven |
‘An offer of my heart’: A story of black love after the Civil War
The Washington Post
2016-09-08
DeNeen L. Brown, Reporter
One hundred and forty-four years after they were written, the civil rights advocate found the letters in the bottom of an old suitcase, stacked in thin envelopes and tied together by a faded, baby-blue ribbon.
Somebody had preserved them with such care. Laura W. Murphy opened a letter, looked at the date and gasped.
“Who has anything [written] from 1871 in their possession?” she thought.
The handwriting was exquisite, penned by her great-grandfather in ink that flowed from a quill. In all, there were 12 letters, capturing a courtship between a black man and a black woman six years after the end of the Civil War…
 Laura W. Murphy reads through letters between her great-grandparents, Mary Rebecca Lee and James W. Hughes, which were exchanged during Reconstruction. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post) |
Read the entire article here.