The Who’s in Song of Jaybird
WHO introduced me to this book idea? Marcia Beasley, historian and author, at the Floral City Historical Museum in Floral City, Florida. In 2019, she handed me a document outlining the archeological research and said, “I think you will be interested in this!” She was right!
WHO is this book about? Black laborers were descendants of Antebellum slaves who harvested resin, passing their skills to subsequent generations. The woodsmen of Etna worked deep in the pine with little knowledge of the outside world for the Naval Store industry under debt peonage in a turpentine camp.
WHO is the main character? Delia entered a lonesome Longleaf Forest after traveling two hundred miles in a transfer from one camp to another. She was given the job as a cook for the single men, which paid eight dollars a month. Her husband, Henry, was an axe man, proud to be a box-cutter.
WHO owns the Naval Store Industry? Industrialists invested in Longleaf Pine from Virginia into the Carolinas; as this valuable resource disappeared, the turpentine business moved toward further south. Pine Barons like Will Graham purchased thousands and thousands of acres of Longleaf pine in Florida. He hired other men to run his business and negotiated with David Miller to become part owner. He was one of several managers who came and went.
WHO helped me with this project? There were many people I reached out to in letters, emails, and phone calls. I visited archival libraries, research centers, historical museums, and the site of the still. I wrote the list of names in my acknowledgments with those who shared their suggestions, expertise, insight, research, maps, and personal stories.
Photo: Getty Images_ Dorothea Lange, 1936
Next Week: The “What” of Song of Jaybird
