Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
A revelatory and immersive biography of a white Southern woman who was a key figure in the early civil rights movement, devoting her life to ending segregation in America only to be forgotten by history.
Born in Florida to a religious family, Lillian Smith (1897-1966) was a white Southern woman living in the Jim Crow South who defied all stereotypes: She lived with her lover, Paula, first running a summer camp in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains, and then a magazine, devoted to creating a new vision of the South, one that passionately championed equality and integration. Smith published Black and white writers, a rare feat in those days, and herself wrote articles instructing white Southerners on why they shouldn't support segregation--Smith firmly believed racism hurt white Americans, too. In 1944 she published a bestselling novel, Strange Fruit , which became a national sensation and was banned in Boston and Detroit. The FBI began a file on her, she received death threats, and her house caught fire three times, twice intentionally, resulting in the loss of all her works-in-progress and her correspondence. Undaunted, she continued her ardent fight against segregation, maintaining correspondence with some of the great leaders of her day, including Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr, W.E.B Dubois, Paul Robeson, and Pauli Murray. She continued to fight for both civil and human rights throughout the 1960s, helping nurture many of the activists in SNCC and CORE, only to succumb to cancer in 1966.
Drawing on previously unpublished archival research, and with a modern appreciation of Smith's complex identity, AN INCONVENIENT WOMAN is the definitive account of a woman who defied all expectations and dedicated her life to racial equality.
Reviews provided by Syndetics
Library Journal Review
Merritt (Masterless Men: Poor Whites and Slavery in the Antebellum South) offers an engaging biography of activist and writer Lillian Smith (1897--1966). The book begins with a description of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1960 arrest for driving without a license. Smith later revealed that the real reason the civil rights leader was arrested was that she, a white Southern woman, was riding in the car with King. Smith was known for speaking out against injustice, joining in the fight for civil rights, and working to end segregation, even when she was targeted for her words and actions. Merritt guides readers through the remarkable events of Smith's life, including her relationship with her lifelong partner, Paula Snelling, and the publication of her bestselling and widely banned 1944 novel, Strange Fruit. Many of Smith's papers were lost when her home was burned to the ground (likely an act of violence against her), but the author makes good use of other surviving documents and contemporary accounts to create a clear and lively portrait of this trailblazing woman. VERDICT An excellent and inspiring biography, recommended for general collections and especially for those interested in literary figures and civil rights and LGBTQIA+ activists of the 1960s.--Amanda Ray
Booklist Review
Lillian Smith, a white Southern woman, wrote the 1944 New York Times best-selling novel Strange Fruit, about a forbidden interracial love affair that ended with a lynching. A close friend of Martin Luther King Jr., Smith wrote numerous well-received books, edited and published a literary magazine, created and produced a Broadway play, and won numerous accolades while living on her own terms. This detailed account follows the trajectory that led to her lifelong commitment as a crusader for racial equity, from her family background and upbringing to her time in China as a missionary and her emergence as a national columnist and sought-after public speaker. Historian Merritt's insightful, engaging narrative effortlessly folds in family anecdotes and excerpts from both Smith's personal correspondence and her published writing, set against the backdrop of twentieth-century civil rights activism. Merritt cites accolades from Pat Conroy and other luminaries that attest to Smith's lasting influence long past her death from cancer in 1966. This well-documented and perceptive tribute aptly humanizes a visionary and fearless woman.
Kirkus Book Review
Battling white supremacy. Historian Merritt recounts the life and career of civil rights activist, novelist, and editor Lillian Smith (1897-1966), a white woman from Georgia whose friends included Eleanor Roosevelt, Pauli Murray, and Martin Luther King Jr. and whose admirers included W.E.B. Du Bois, Paul Robeson, and Pearl S. Buck. Born and raised in Jasper, Florida, in a large, well-to-do family, Smith learned a Methodism rooted "in love, acceptance, and understanding." In Georgia, where her family settled; in China, where she spent three years as a music teacher; and in her travels, she became increasingly aware of racism, Jim Crow, and the insidious plague of white supremacy that beset American society. These themes emerged in her first novel,Strange Fruit, published in 1944. Although the book met with outrage in some quarters, it was critically acclaimed overall, selling some 3 million copies during Smith's lifetime. Besides focusing on racism and classism, her fiction also considered romantic attraction between women, reflecting her lifelong relationship with Paula Snelling. Together, the women founded and edited an influential literary magazine,South Today, which welcomed contributions from Black writers. Likening white supremacy to Nazism, Smith argued that violence and anger, both rooted in fear, hurt whites as well as Blacks. She condemned evangelical Christianity for fueling racism and hate. Merritt offers a close overview of Smith's prolific writings, which included fiction, essays, and memoir; and she follows her involvement in civil rights organizations that promoted nonviolence. In her last decades, Smith suffered recurring bouts of aggressive breast cancer, requiring debilitating--and expensive--treatments and surgeries, that eventually caused her death. Merritt portrays her as a fighter: determined and brave in the face of illness, censorship, book bans, arson, and death threats. An appreciative portrait of a defiant woman. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
TextSt. Martin's Press 20260929ISBN: