TOTING THE LEAD ROW; RUBY PICKENS TARTT, ALABAMA FOLKLORIST.

Brown, Virginia Pounds; Laurella Owens. [Ruby Pickens Tartt, 1880-1974.]

ISBN 10: 0817300740 / ISBN 13: 9780817300746

Published by University, AL [Tuscaloosa, AL]: The University of Alabama Press, 1981., 1981

About this Item

First edition (not stated per publisher's contemporary practice). xii, 180 pages. Hardcover: H 24.25cm x L 16cm. Yellow dust jacket rubbed and foxed; some scuffs at edges. Light orange cloth with black stamping to spine. Text block edges foxed with some leaves slightly affected at margins; interior pages are otherwise clean. Binding retains some crispness. {AL-Shelf#2} ISBN 0817300740.

Seller Inventory # Z626X-9981

Bibliographic Details

• Title: TOTING THE LEAD ROW; RUBY PICKENS TARTT, ALABAMA FOLKLORIST.
• Publisher: University, AL [Tuscaloosa, AL]: The University of Alabama Press, 1981.
• Publication Date: 1981
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0817300740
• ISBN 13: 9780817300746
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Seller catalogs:
  • Americana-Alabama

About this title

Synopsis

“You recall the expression ‘toting the lead row’, don’t you? In chopping cotton or corn there is always a leader, one who can chop the fastest of them all. When he finishes his row, he goes back and helps the other choppers finish theirs. The one who totes the lead row takes the lead place in the next row.”—Ruby Pickens Tartt

As a young woman growing up in Livingston in the Black Belt region of Alabama, Ruby Pickens Tartt developed a keen interest in the stories, songs, and folklore of rural blacks. Born in 1880, this remarkable woman lived through 94 years of dramatic change for blacks and whites alike.

    She was certain that the very essence of her native Sumter County lay on the back roads, in the cabins hidden nearby, and with the black people who lived there. Their singing and their stories captivated her; the preservation of their heritage became life-long commitment.

    In her collection work, including service with the WPA Writers’ Project, Ruby Pickens Tartt worked with and assisted other collectors of folklore, notably Carl Carmer and John Lomax; indeed, her Livingston home became a mecca for folklorists and writers. In helping them all, truly Mrs. Tartt was “toting the lead row”.


    Toting the Lead Row is divided into two major parts. The first is biographical and told in detail is her work during the Depression with the Federal Writers’ Project, collecting folk songs and life histories and gathering folklore. The second part contains selecting writings of Ruby Pickens Tartt: 18 life histories and stories and 12 slave narratives.

About the Author

Virginia Pounds Brown and Laurella Owens are freelance writers.