Lexington, KY - Lexington author Christine Eisele Sacra takes readers back to the late 1870s and the small James family farm in Lexington, Ky., where 15-year-old Ruth May, the daughter of a former slave, has lived her whole life.
It is after the emancipation, but her mother and a few older servants had chosen to stay on the farm --
the only life they have ever known. When her mother dies, Ruth finds herself alone, afraid and inexperienced in anything beyond the sewing skills and the intense faith her mother instilled in her from early on. The James family, now less prosperous than in earlier years, arranges for her transport to Nicodemus, Kan., where a settlement is being established by African Americans. Left at the train station in Lexington to board the train to her new life, Ruth begins a journey that reveals her mother's teachings as invaluable gifts.
Swept up in the bustle of a family headed to the same settlement, Ruth finds rugged shelter with them when they eventually arrive in Nicodemus, but finds little peace in their existence, as they are abusive and neglectful of the children. Ruth finds herself not only the children's caregiver, but their only source of comfort --
all the while striving to improve her own plight.
In a rare visit to town, she meets the church's deacon; his concern for her strengthens her resolve to not only survive, but succeed. When the opportunity to go to school arises, she recognizes it as her ticket to a new life. As she learns to handle the troubles put in front of her, she also discovers herself and the strengths and talents others in the settlement see in her. Writes Sacra of a conversation between Ruth and her teacher: "Nicodemus is growing. Towns all across this nation are growing. Everyone needs to be educated. There will be a great need for teachers, especially Negro teachers, like us, to do for our people what has been kept from them for so long. ... This is going to be a lot of hard work on your part. You might not like it after a while. But, Ruth, I think I'm a pretty good judge of character, and I, well, let's just say, I saw something special in you the first time we met."
With that Ruth begins a new type of education that reflects not only what her mother saw in her, but what she finds inside herself.
Though "Nicodemus" is a fictional tale, Nicodemus is real. Settled in 1877, it is the only remaining western town established by African Americans from Kentucky and Tennessee during the Reconstruction period following the Civil War. Formed by the efforts of an organized group that wanted to create a viable and supportive community for African Americans, it relied at the time on their values of home, education, faith, hard work and the institutions that grew out of a tradition of mutual assistance. Supplies the author,
"(It is) full of untold memories, secrets, and stories."
Christine Sacra is a retired high school English teacher and lives in Lexington with her husband. Her children and grandchildren live nearby.