Somerset Homecoming

Dorothy Spruill Redford accomplished so much for so many people when she went in search of her family history. This book illustrates how a person who was not formally trained in genealogy can develop the skills along the way to research their family history. The movie Roots is inspiring, but many African Americans give up after they run into the usual road block most of us encounter because of our families slave history or connections to Native peoples. Reading Ms. Redford's story gives one a sense of the kinds of road blocks she encountered, and how she overcame them. Ms. Redford has given me ideas about new approaches to my research, and I have also realized that my family may have a connection to Somerset plantation.

Spruill-Redford's book paints a beautifully accurate picture of North Eastern North Carolina. Her dedication to discovering the truth about her ancestors is admirable and thorough. The only caveat is Spruill-Redford's sweeping statements about the history of Somerset. She is inclined to believe that the reason behind all of the Collins' actions is to further their control over their slaves. Their conscious effort to keep families together, in example, is just one more way for the Collins' men to keep their slaves from running away. While this may have been, even probably was, the case, presenting that opinion as a definite is bad historical practice. Several examples of similar conclusions could be cited. The book must be understood as one woman's journey to uncover the lives of a people whose story desperately needed to be told, but not as an inherently fair historical document. Bias marred an otherwise admirable venture. It is reasonable to expect a reader, however, to pick up on these statements and analyze them accordingly. Somerset Homecoming is nonetheless a must-read, especially for locals.

In this book, Dorothy Redford shows the power of tenacity and courage. She had a dream--to uncover the past, to discover the story of her enslaved ancestors--and she sacrificed and toiled until she found out the truth, bit by bit. The inspiration is that she did not stop there. Now she lives that dream by educating others, both by her book and at the plantation where she is executive director, about the reality of slavery life. I recommend this book highly to anyone who admires or hopes to immulate someone who has realized a dream.

I read this the first time because it was a new genealogy book at my local library. More than just an engaging story about a woman's search for a heritage to pass down to her daughter, it also qualifies itself as the best "How To" on African-American Genealogy, because in the course of telling her story, Ms. Redford explains how she found her information. I recommend it all the time to friends researching African American family history.

I thought this was an excellent history of not only plantation slavery in America, but also the dedication of an individual to find out their heritage.