Seckinger announces date for September book release

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From trials to success, Swainsboro native tells life journey of Emanuel County sharecropping family

Ron Seckinger’s book, Emanuel’s Children: Stories of a Southern Family, will launch on September 27. It is already available for pre-sale orders of print and eBook formats from Amazon (https://tinyurl.com/emanuelschildren) and other retailers. Below is The Forest-Blade’s recent interview with Seckinger about his publication.

What’s your connection to Emanuel Country?

My grandmother, Jessie Stroud Fields, and my mother, Romie Delle (“Ronnie”) Fields Seckinger, were natives of Emanuel, and by chance so was I. When my mother came to term, my parents were living in Wrightsville, where my father, Al Seckinger, served as Johnson County extension agent.

Apparently, no doctor was available there, and so my parents drove to Swainsboro for my birth in Dr. Brown’s clinic on Lucky Street. I never resided in Emanuel, but every summer I spent six weeks with my grandmother.

What is the focus of your book?

Emanuel’s Children recreates the lives of my grandmother and her seven siblings, the sons and daughters of Richard James (“Jim”) Stroud and Ella Sherrod, born in Emanuel County between 1888 and 1913. Raised as the children of sharecroppers, they and their relatives by marriage sought to improve their circumstances not only in Emanuel County but also in Savannah, Detroit, Chicago, Miami, the Okeechobee region of South Florida and the Tennessee Valley.

Why are these people worthy of a book?

These were ordinary people, but they led extraordinary lives. None became famous, and their successes proved modest, but drama filled their lives. While a few earned modest achievements, others suffered trauma and heartbreak. One couple never recovered from the loss of an only child. Despair over broken dreams led a young woman to take her own life. An alcoholic and abusive husband—my grandfather—gambled away the family farm.

Yet, they laid the foundations for the family’s future. Some of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren have studied at prestigious universities and distinguished themselves in medicine, business, and education. Their experiences show that even poor, marginal citizens could achieve the American Dream.

What surprised you most about your research?

I discovered that it’s possible to reconstruct the lives of indigent, semi-literate people who left no archives and attracted little attention. I relied on oral interviews, courthouse records, local newspapers, and other materials. Genealogists and amateur historians could undertake similar projects on family members’ lives since 1950, say, to ensure that oral histories are still possible to collect.

How did the Strouds’ lives reflect broad changes in the South and the nation?

Railroad expansion, the invention of the automobile and a national road network enhanced commercial growth and personal mobility. Movies and radio gave rural and small-town residents access to a world beyond their experience. The decline of cotton cultivation in the 1920s caused further upheaval in farm economies. Federal investment in physical and social infrastructure helped the country recover from the dark days of the Great Depression.

What aspect of your effort gave you the most satisfaction?

Researching and writing Emanuel’s Children was a rewarding adventure for me. Getting to know some of my older relatives and understanding better the lives of my ancestors. I remember fondly the Sunday I drove around South Georgia with my great-aunt, Alice Mitchell, while visiting kinfolk and friends in Ben Hill County. Similarly, meeting another great-aunt, Frances Stroud, in Frankfort, Kentucky, left me awed by her ability to recall long-ago events in detail. And the focus on my family provided an immediacy and intimacy to the project that no academic undertaking could match. Whether their behavior was exemplary or reprehensible, I wanted to know the truth about their character in good moments and bad.

Ron Seckinger can be contacted at rseckinger63@yahoo.com.