When We Were Colored: A Mother's Story

Recounting the civil rights era from the perspective of an African American wife and mother, this memoir travels from growing up in the segregated South before World War II to postwar family life in California. Told with humor and homespun wisdom, this is the story of an ordinary woman living through extraordinary times. Through the bad and the good, this account shows a family and the people they encounter—black and white—stumbling toward a more equal and just America.

Eva Rutland was born in the segregated South before World War II. She was the recipient of the 2000 Golden Pen Award for Lifetime Achievement and is the author of more than 20 novels, including Almost a Wife, Heart and Soul, and Her Own Prince Charming. She lives in Sacramento, California.