A Record of the Journey

I am researching my family history. My focus is primarily on my grandfather, a man named Mack "Booker" Wright. I'm creating this blog on the first day of September in 2007. I started my work in July during a class called "Writing Your Family History" at ASU. Here is the gist of what I know so far:

My grandfather owned a restaurant called "Booker's Place" in Greenwood, Mississippi. According to my father, Booker's Place was the place to be on any given Saturday night. While there were some other spots for blacks to hang out, none were as safe or as nice as Booker's Place.

Booker earned the money to open his restaurant by working for years at Lusco's, a prohibition era restaurant that is still in business today.

This is what I've learned so far about his civil rights activities:

As the civil rights movement began to slowly take shape throughout the nation, a national news crew went to Greenwood to interview some of the blacks and whites there to get an idea of how they were feeling about race relations. Since Booker had a comfortable job at Lusco's and was friends with several prominent whites, many believed that he would give a favorable account of how things were going for blacks in the Delta. He did not. While I am not sure exactly what he said, it is clear that he communicated that blacks were being treated unfairly and that it was time for a change. This cost him his job at Lusco's.

Booker was later murdered by a black man who was angry because Booker allowed whites to eat in his restaurant. This man felt that Booker's Place should be for blacks only. But Booker believed in equality for everyone. This belief cost him his life.

My hope is to learn as much as I can about my grandfather, his personal life and the legacy that he left in Greenwood, Mississippi.

One of the aspects of the Family History class was utilizing a blog to track our progress and post assignmens. I loved it because, as most blogs are, it was a living record of where I was in my mind and my life when I first learned about my grandfather. That blog is supported by ASU. I am not sure if, when I am finished at ASU, they will still support the blog. To make sure that I can always have a record of these days I am creating another blog. The next several posts are copied from the original ASU blog and an ASU wiki. Some of them may seem less relevent out of the context of the class, nevertheless, they are a record of the journey.