Help Me to Find My People

Critics Review

• “Williams examines the historical fact of family separation and renders its emotional truth. She is the rare scholar who writes history with such tenderness that her words can bring a reader to tears…[The book] has a propulsive narrative flow, and with each successive chapter the suppleness of Williams’ prose grows.”

  New York Times Book Review

• “Inspired by ‘information wanted’ advertisements that African Americans placed in newspapers to find loved ones after the Civil War, Williams examines the emotional and psychological effects of separation and reunion on both free and enslaved African Americans…An important addition to African American history collections.” 

  Library Journal

• “Offers is a close examination of the emotions of slaves and their owners…Allows the enslaved and formerly enslaved to speak for themselves on loss and the physical and emotional tribulations of slavery…Williams’ source materials and her own narrative evoke the longing, fear, grief, and hope that have endured as black families continue to search genealogies to reconnect to family members lost to the cruelty of slavery.”

  Booklist

• “History,
  as we are reminded by this book, is told from the perspective of those with
  power. Robin Miles’ confident oratorical style gives the listener a sense of
  empowerment regarding the attempts of African-Americans to recover their family
  histories lost through the institution of slavery. Miles’ tone is crisp, her
  pace steady, and her style journalistic, all of which suit the theme set out by
  the author. Though full of facts and minute biographical details, Miles’ evenly
  paced reading draws the listener into the personal aspects of these stories.
  She differentiates between the male and female recollections by changes in
  tone. She also creates successful narrative personas to delineate the journal
  entries, reported dialogue, and overall narrative text.”

  AudioFile

• “A stunning narrative. Relying upon an astonishing variety
  of sources, Williams documents one of the deepest prices paid by those
  subjected to enslavement—forced separation from their loved ones—and chronicles
  the long and difficult journeys they undertook to search for loved ones.”

  William Darity, Jr., arts and sciences professor of public policy, African and African American studies, and economics, Duke University

• “Williams speaks to scholars and to everyone interested in
  African American roots and family history as she delves into the short-run and
  long-run impact of family instability and disruption. This is a study of real
  importance.”

  Michael Tadman, University of Liverpool

• “Williams has uncovered evidence with emotional heft that
  will help modern readers understand the toll slavery took upon families and
  individuals. She examines these losses from the perspectives of enslaved
  peoples and seeks to answer how they dealt with—and how they felt about—what
  was done to them.”

  Marie Jenkins Schwartz, University of Rhode Island