Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years

Warm, feisty, and intelligent, the Delany sisters speak their mind in a book that is at once a vital historical record and a moving portrait of two remarkable women who continued to love, laugh, and embrace life after over a hundred years of living side by side. Their sharp memories show us the post-Reconstruction South and Booker T. Washington, Harlem's Golden Age and Langston Hughes, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Paul Robeson. Bessie breaks barriers to become a dentist; Sadie quietly integrates the New York City system as a high school teacher. Their extraordinary story makes an important contribution to our nation's heritage--and an indelible impression on our lives.

About the Author :
Sarah L. Delany (1889-1999) and her sister Dr. A Elizabeth Delany (1891-1995) were born in Raleigh, North Carolina, on the campus of St. Augustine's College. Their father, born into slavery and freed by the Emancipation, was an administrator at the college and America's first elected Black Episcopal bishop. Sarah received her bachelor's and master's degrees from Teachers College at Columbia University and was New York City's first appointed Black home economics teacher on the high school level. Elizabeth received her degree in dentistry from Columbia University and was the second Black woman licensed to practice dentistry in New York City. Dr. A Elizabeth Delany (1891-1995) and her sister Sarah were born in Raleigh, North Carolina, on the campus of St. Augustine's College. Their father, born into slavery and freed by the Emancipation, was an administrator at the college and America's first elected Black Episcopal bishop. Elizabeth received her degree in dentistry from Columbia University and was the second Black woman licensed to practice dentistry in New York City. Amy Hill Hearth is an American nonfiction author, novelist, and journalist whose work focuses on forgotten or overlooked voices and extraordinary stories from the past. She has written ten books since the publication of Having Our Say, which was her first book. Her work has been translated into ten languages and has won multiple awards, including a Peabody Award, a Septima Clark Book Award from the National Council for the Social Studies, and two "Notable Book" citations from the American Library Association. She is a New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author. Robin Miles began her audiobook narration in 1994. She's read over 130 titles covering many different genres and has won multiple Earphones awards. Her many audiobook credits include Augusten Burroughs's Sellevision, Edwidge Danticat's Brother I'm Dying, and Lalita Tademy's Cane River. Her film and television credits include The Last Days of Disco, Primary Colors, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order, New York Undercover, National Geographic's Tales from the Wild, All My Children, and One Life to Live. She regularly gives seminars to members of SAG and AFTRA actors' unions, and in 2005 she started Narration Arts Workshop in New York City, offering audiobook recording classes and coaching. She holds a B.A. in Theater Studies from Yale University, an MFA in acting from the Yale School of Drama, and a certificate from the British American Drama Academy in England.

Review :
"An unforgettable testimony to the dignity and courage of African-American women." -- "Shirlee Taylor Haizlip, author of Sweeter the Juice" "I felt proud to be an American citizen reading Having Our Say...The two voices, beautifully blended...evoke an epic history...often cruel and brutal, but always deeply humane." -- "New York Times Book Review" "This book is destined to become a classic! The Delany sisters leave to us the best of legacies--two sets of dancing footprints for us to follow all our days ahead." -- "Clarissa Pinkola Estés, author of Women Who Run With the Wolves"