Ripley County Reads is excited to be taking part in this year’s One State / One Story community read! Indiana Humanities’ One State / One Story program invites Hoosiers to engage deeply with a book as part of a statewide conversation tied to our current theme.
This program has been made possible through a grant from Indiana Humanities in cooperation with the National Endowment for the Humanities.
About the Book
Winner of the 2021 National Book Award in nonfiction, Miles’ work dives deeply into the history of a single object: a cotton sack embroidered with a few deceptively simple lines:
My great grandmother Rose
mother of Ashley gave her this sack when
she was sold at age 9 in South Carolina
it held a tattered dress 3 handfulls of
pecans a braid of Roses hair. Told her
It be filled with my Love always
she never saw her again
Ashley is my grandmother
Ruth Middleton
1921
From the sparse information contained in these carefully embroidered lines, Miles opens up the potential worlds of Ashley, Ruth, and Rose. Her analysis of the sack reveals what we can and can’t know about the past, particularly of Black individuals who were brought here by force and enslaved.
Book Discussions
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Speaker Series
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Ripley County Underground Railroad Bus Tour
The Underground Railroad is part of the Southeast Indiana Trails to Freedom. This bus tour will highlight five trails in Ripley County. This free, guided two-hour tour will start in Versailles at the Ripley County Tourism Office and feature places and activities of the Underground Railroad. Snacks will be provided.
Registration is required and participants must be at least 13 years old.
Select a date below to register.
There are no upcoming events at this time
There are no upcoming events at this time