Reading Between the Lines

African American Autobiography

This series explores American history from the perspective of four extraordinary African Americans. Each session centers on a book selected by Jennifer Griffith, a graduate student at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

	The series opens with a discussion of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself, Harriet Jacobs' riveting narrative of her escape from slavery.
	This session focuses on Treat It Gentle, the memoir of the important early 20th century jazz clarinetist and saxophonist Sydney Bechet.
	A discussion of Coming of Age in Mississippi, Ann Moody's account of her life as a sharecropper's daughter turned Civil Rights activist.
	The final session centers on Makes Me Wanna Holler, journalist Nathan McCall's stirring description of his struggle to reconcile the very different lives he has led.