Amy Hill Hearth

New York Times Bestselling Author, "Having Our Say"

Centenarian celebration: Amy Hill Hearth, center, with the Delany Sisters, Sadie (left) and Bessie (right), on Sadie's 103rd birthday. Photo was taken in the dining room of the sisters' Mt. Vernon, N.Y. home, Sept. 19, 1992.

Dr. A Elizabeth ("Bessie") Delany in 1923. Bessie was born September 3, 1891 in Raleigh, N.C. Called "Queen Bess" by her family because of her assertive and outspoken personality, she was the younger of the two Delany Sisters who found fame late in life. A 1923 graduate of Columbia University's School of Dental Surgery, she was the second Black woman dentist licensed in New York. She never married, preferring to live with her "big" sister, Sadie, all of her life. Bessie died peacefully at home at the age of 104 on September 25, 1995.

Sarah ("Sadie") Louise Delany in1920. Sadie was born September 19, 1889. Her family nickname was "Sweet Sadie" and her favorite expression was, "You catch more flies with molasses than vinegar." The sisters and their eight siblings were raised on the campus of St. Augustine's School (now College) in Raleigh. Sadie later earned a bachelor's (1920) and master's (1925) in Education from Columbia University. She was the first Black teacher in New York to teach domestic science on the high school level. Sadie died peacefully at home on January 25, 1999 at age 109. The sisters are buried side-by-side in Raleigh, N.C.

On Broadway: author Amy Hill Hearth (center) celebrates opening night of the theatrical adapation of HAVING OUR SAY with family members. Photo taken April 6, 1995, the Booth Theater, New York.

Actress Amy Madigan ("Places in the Heart," "Field of Dreams"), at left, who played author Amy Hill Hearth (right) in the film adaptation of HAVING OUR SAY. Photo was taken on the movie set in Charlotte, North Carolina, February 1999.

Author photo, Amy Hill Hearth, New York, 1998.

Amy Hill Hearth on the porch of "Strong Medicine's" home, summer 2007, while working on the oral history, 'STRONG MEDICINE' SPEAKS: A NATIVE AMERICAN ELDER HAS HER SAY.

WHY I WRITE
An Essay by Amy Hill Hearth

I was raised in a family that cherished its elders. Perhaps this is why I love older people and their stories. My paternal grandmother died in 1997 at the age of 101. I grew up knowing that older people are worthy of respect and attention. I understood (in a way that many people apparently do not) that older people were not, in fact, always old. Indeed, they were once young. And middle-aged. And they had many stories to tell.

My mother's family, who were of German descent, came to America through Ellis Island. From them I came to understand the immigrant experience in America, the difficulties assimilating, the longing at times for a home faraway.

Through my father's bloodline, I am a thirteenth generation American. Our ancestors include a Dutch woman who arrived in America via shipwreck on the New Jersey seashore, a female Lenni-Lenape Indian born circa 1700, and a band of brothers who fought for the Colonial Army during the Revolutionary War.

As a child, I recall playing in the converted ice house near my paternal grandparents' cottage in Lake George, N.Y. The ice house had long been turned into a garage, guest room, and storage area, and it seemed to have become a repository of family memorabilia. There were cannon balls and bullet fragments from the Civil War, ancient wedding rings of gold as thin as thread, and photographs of serious and somewhat scary-looking people, but I understood that these were my people, long dead, but mine. Whoever they had been, they had saved these items for me. And so I had a comfort level with history and the past that is probably unusual.

One of the hardships of my childhood - which in retrospect turned out to be a blessing - was that we moved several times. My mother was a homemaker and my father, an electrical engineer, a profession which seemed to involve relocating every few years. The experience of living in Columbia, South Carolina from age 6 to 12 was especially important to me. By living in the Deep South during my formative years, I acquired an ability with language and storytelling that is uniquely Southern.

These are the qualities, experiences and values that I bring to the table each time I interview someone and, later, when I sit at my writing desk, hoping to capture their story for posterity.

Copyright 2000 by Amy Hill Hearth
May be quoted or reproduced for educational purposes.