This leaves me okay : race, legacy, and letters from my grandmother / Walter Pryor.
Lucille "Mama Ceal" Hatch Eldridge wrote to her grandson Walter Pryor weekly for nearly 30 years, from his boyhood until she died at 80. Most extraordinarily, Mama Ceal was not a well-educated person, having completed only the eighth grade. As a live-in maid, raising other people's children, she had little leisure time to write. Yet, her letters, sprinkled throughout This Leaves Me Okay (Heliotrope Books, May 2025), helped Pryor profoundly to feel he mattered. His reflective memoir shares a local's perspective of the lesser-known rural Arkansas Black experience through his grandmother's story and interweaves well-known civil rights struggles that Pryor and his family recall. A CAO and General Counsel now at a financial institution that supports under-served communities, Pryor shares the demoralization of knowing Mama Ceal's great-grandchildren must still grapple with too many race and equity challenges that she had to face. He asks, and the story answers: how did this woman, who was devalued in American society, figure out how to make her small world better and stay hopeful for her family's future?
Record details
- ISBN: 9781956474671
- ISBN: 1956474676
- ISBN: 9781956474589
- ISBN: 1956474587
- Physical Description: 214 pages, [6] pages of plates : illustrations, facsimiles ; 23 cm
- Publisher: New York : Heliotrope Books, [2025]
- Copyright: ©2025
Search for related items by subject
- Subject:
- Eldridge, Lucille Hatch.
Eldridge, Lucille Hatch > Correspondence.
Pryor, Walter.
Pryor, Walter > Family > Correspondence.
Women household employees > Biography.
African American women > Biography.
African American families > Biography.
Racism > Arkansas.
Civil rights movements > United States.
Grandparent and child.
Available copies
- 2 of 2 copies available at NC Cardinal. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Onslow County Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 2 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richlands Branch Library | 305.896 PRY (Text) | 36015000741138 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
Accessibility Features
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| 245 | 1 | 0. | ‡aThis leaves me okay : ‡brace, legacy, and letters from my grandmother / ‡cWalter Pryor. |
| 264 | 1. | ‡aNew York : ‡bHeliotrope Books, ‡c[2025] | |
| 264 | 4. | ‡c©2025 | |
| 300 | . | ‡a214 pages, [6] pages of plates : ‡billustrations, facsimiles ; ‡c23 cm | |
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| 336 | . | ‡atext ‡btxt ‡2rdacontent | |
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| 520 | . | ‡aLucille "Mama Ceal" Hatch Eldridge wrote to her grandson Walter Pryor weekly for nearly 30 years, from his boyhood until she died at 80. Most extraordinarily, Mama Ceal was not a well-educated person, having completed only the eighth grade. As a live-in maid, raising other people's children, she had little leisure time to write. Yet, her letters, sprinkled throughout This Leaves Me Okay (Heliotrope Books, May 2025), helped Pryor profoundly to feel he mattered. His reflective memoir shares a local's perspective of the lesser-known rural Arkansas Black experience through his grandmother's story and interweaves well-known civil rights struggles that Pryor and his family recall. A CAO and General Counsel now at a financial institution that supports under-served communities, Pryor shares the demoralization of knowing Mama Ceal's great-grandchildren must still grapple with too many race and equity challenges that she had to face. He asks, and the story answers: how did this woman, who was devalued in American society, figure out how to make her small world better and stay hopeful for her family's future? | |
| 600 | 1 | 0. | ‡aEldridge, Lucille Hatch. |
| 600 | 1 | 0. | ‡aEldridge, Lucille Hatch ‡vCorrespondence. |
| 600 | 1 | 0. | ‡aPryor, Walter. |
| 600 | 1 | 0. | ‡aPryor, Walter ‡xFamily ‡vCorrespondence. |
| 650 | 0. | ‡aWomen household employees ‡vBiography. | |
| 650 | 0. | ‡aAfrican American women ‡vBiography. ‡0(CARDINAL)293525 | |
| 650 | 0. | ‡aAfrican American families ‡vBiography. | |
| 650 | 0. | ‡aRacism ‡zArkansas. | |
| 650 | 0. | ‡aCivil rights movements ‡zUnited States. ‡0(CARDINAL)291869 | |
| 650 | 0. | ‡aGrandparent and child. ‡0(CARDINAL)240250 | |
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