An extraordinary biography about Harriet Scott, an illiterate woman who grew up in the nation’s frontier. VanderVelde uses her research on the time period to piece together what Harriet’s life might have been like.
Other useful resources about the Scott family include the following:
Charles River Editors. American Legends: The Life of Dred Scott and the Dred Scott Decision. Cambridge, MA: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013.
Dred Scott Heritage Foundation. http://www.thedredscottfoundation.org/dshf/.
Missouri State Archives. “Missouri’s Dred Scott Case, 1846–1857.” http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/africanamerican/scott/scott.asp.
LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER
The Mississippi River played a crucial role in Eliza’s life as we have interpreted it. The river also played an important role in the city of St. Louis in the nineteenth century. The following three books offer a good background about life on the Mississippi River during this time period:
Buchanan, Thomas C. Black Life on the Mississippi: Slaves, Free Blacks, and the Western Steamboat World. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004.
A well-written book that focuses on black workers, both enslaved and free, on the Mississippi during the nineteenth century.
Gillespie, Michael. Come Hell or High Water: A Lively History of Steamboating on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.
Stoddard, WI: Heritage Press, 2001.
A general history of steamboats on two major rivers. Since St. Louis was such an important location on the Mississippi, that city comes in for a fair amount of coverage in this book.
Sandlin, Lee. Wicked River: The Mississippi When It Last Ran Wild. New York: Pantheon Books, 2010.
This book covers the entire history of the river, with a particular focus on the development of commerce on the river during the nineteenth century.
THE ST. LOUIS CHOLERA EPIDEMIC AND THE GREAT FIRE OF 1849
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (www.stltoday.com) is a local newspaper with several interesting articles about the cholera epidemic and the Great Fire of 1849. You might also check out articles in the St. Louis Magazine (www.stlmag.com) or the Southeast Missourian (www.semissourian.com). Search for “Cholera 1849” or “Great Fire 1849.”
A comprehensive survey of historical information about St. Louis, including a list of websites, can be found at the St. Louis Community Information Network (http://stlcin.missouri.org/history/). The website of the Missouri History Museum is also useful (http://www.mohistory.org/).
*websites active at time of publication
Photo Credits
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division:
LC-USZ62-79305: 210; LC-USZ62-96097: 212;
LC-USZ62-5316: front jacket (background), 215
PRAISE FOR
Rory’s Promise,
THE FIRST IN THE HIDDEN HISTORIES SERIES
“This first in the Hidden Histories series of middle-grade novels highlights an episode in which New York City’s Foundling Hospital sent white youth to unfamiliar Arizona Territory to be adopted by Mexican Catholics, raising the ire of Protestant Anglos and revealing the depths of their prejudice. . . . The injustice, drama and action will have readers riveted. . . . An exciting, eye-opening read.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Rory is a likable protagonist with determination and heart, all of which will endear her to readers.”
—Booklist
“Readers will enjoy the fast-paced action and likable main character. Based on a true story and an actual event that took place in 1904, this is a historical novel with a unique topic and plenty of substance, making it especially suitable for class or group discussion.”
—School Library Journal
An Interview with Michaela MacColl
Q. You are the author of the Hidden Histories series about children and little known events in American history. What inspired the series?
A. If you are interested in history, these little stories just jump out at you from the oddest places—a Google doodle, a highway marker, a brochure for an exhibit, a nonfiction title from a scholarly press. So often the stories are tragic, but they are always interesting. When I pitched the idea of this series to my editor, Carolyn Yoder, I was most interested in being fair to all the participants in my story. In the first title, Rory’s Promise, there is a varied cast of characters, all of whom have different perspectives. Some of their attitudes are almost incomprehensible to a modern reader—but I try to show why they felt the way they did. It’s a challenge not to judge, but I think that is the essence of writing compelling historical fiction.
Q. What interested you in the story of Dred Scott’s children, Eliza specifically?
A. My co-author had read a book about Dred Scott’s wife, Harriet (Mrs. Dred Scott: A Life on Slavery’s Frontier by Lea VanderVelde). It was a fascinating biography because Harriet couldn’t read or write—so what kind of record can she leave behind? It was clear that when the Scotts sued for their freedom, it was such a dangerous thing to do—they must have had a reason that was stronger than fear. They did what they did to protect their children. The older Eliza gets, the more danger she is in. Harriet was a strong, motivated woman, and I was fascinated by how she must have raised her daughters. She wants them to be brave and independent, but all the time she knows it is incredibly risky for them to be that way. It was a challenge to write Eliza—she’s spunky but can’t show it. If she does, she might be sold as a slave and there is nothing anyone can do about it. But within those constraints, Eliza still manages to get herself in a heap of trouble.
Q. You are primarily a writer of historical fiction. Have you always been interested in history?
A. I have—but always more interested in stories of individuals than in battles or economic forces. My favorite thing about the stories I write is that quite often the most unbelievable stuff is the stuff that’s true.
Q. How do you make stories of the past relevant to today’s children? Why is the past so important?
A. For me the first thing is to start with a character. If I can get my readers to identify with a person in the past, my job is halfway done. Kids can’t help but imagine how they would react in the same situations—so they pay more attention to the details that are different (and just as importantly the details that are still the same). With the Hidden Histories series, my first goal is to tell a compelling story. Secondly, I’d love for my readers to feel conflicted about what they would do in a similar situation. Once you start to think that way about the past, I think you can’t help but be a more thoughtful citizen of today’s world.
MICHAELA MACCOLL is the awardwinning writer of several historical fiction novels, including Always Emily, Nobody’s Secret, Prisoners in the Palace, and Promise the Night, and the co-author of Rory’s Promise. She has degrees in multidisciplinary history from Vassar College and Yale University. She and her family live in Westport, Connecticut. Visit michaelamaccoll.com
ROSEMARY NICHOLS’S first novel was Rory’s Promise with Michaela MacColl. She has two degrees from the University of Washington and a law degree from the University of Chicago. She lives in Watervliet, New York. Visit rosemarygailnichols.com
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