What I've Learned Since

During my family history class, my instructor encouraged me to find secondary sources outside of my family who may be able to provide a different point of view. She actually searched on her own for information about Booker's Place to help me get started.

I received her email in the morning and began searching on my own to learn more about my grandfather, Booker Wright. By that afternoon I'd set up an appointment to speak with a Mississippi State Senator who believes that Booker was the catalyst of the civil rights movement in Greenwood. I also spoke with a writer and researcher who was not only familiar with Booker, but was amazed to learn that he had children and grandchildren.

This researcher told me that my grandfather appeared in a national news program in which he was asked to describe what life for blacks was like.  I got the impression that people were expecting Booker Wright to say that life for blacks in the South was fine.  Instead he said some strong words to indicate that life for blacks was not good and that things desperately needed to change.

That was a whirlwind day.

I hope, when all is said and done, to be able to share with others his whole story. I know that he never knew who his mother was and that he spent a lot of money trying to find her. Since he had become successful, many women were coming forth claiming to be his mother. He finally found a woman in Chicago who he believed to be the one. He sent of her and her whole family. There was a large picnic in Greenwood to honor and celebrate her. To this day, no one else in the family believes that was Booker's mother.

He never learned to read or write. Apparently, he was left on the doorstep of the Wright's, who would eventually raise him. They did not want him, so they did not invest in him. He was never taught to read.