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Searching for Sarah Rector : the richest Black girl in America  Cover Image Book Book

Searching for Sarah Rector : the richest Black girl in America

Bolden, Tonya (Author).

Summary: Recounts the story of the 1914 disappearance of eleven-year-old Sarah Rector, an African American who was part of the Creek Indian people and whose land had made her wealthy, and what it reveals about race, money, and American society.

Record details

  • ISBN: 1419708465 (hbk.)
  • ISBN: 9781419708466 (hbk.)
  • Physical Description: 76 pages : illustrations (some color), color maps ; 27 cm
    print
  • Publisher: New York : Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2014.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note: Includes bibliographical references (pages 66-67) and index.
Formatted Contents Note: 160 acres -- Three and a half dollars an acre -- Twelve and a half percent -- One million dollars.
Subject: Petroleum industry and trade Oklahoma History 20th century
Indians of North America Biography
Creek Indians Biography
Women Biography
Rector, Sarah 1902-
Millionaires Biography
African Americans Biography
African American women Biography

Available copies

  • 1 of 1 copy available at Kenton County.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Covington Branch J B R3117b (Text) 33126018316079 JBiography Available -

  • School Library Journal Reviews : SLJ Reviews 2014 January

    Gr 6–8—When Sarah Rector turned 18 in 1920, the young black woman had amassed a fortune estimated at $1 million. In telling her story, Bolden makes a largely unknown portion of American history accessible to young readers. Rector and her family were "Creek freedmen," black citizens of the Creek Indian nation. When the Creeks were forced to resettle west of the Mississippi in the 1800s, each one received a land allotment. Sarah's contained rich oil deposits, making her enormously wealthy. As a result, there was great media interest in her whereabouts and lifestyle, though much of the reporting was highly inaccurate and speculative. When she disappeared, the black-owned newspaper the Chicago Defender and the NAACP even suggested that Sarah had been kidnapped and that her legal guardians were profiting at her expense. All of this was untrue. In telling Rector's story, Bolden admittedly had to deal with gaps in information. Yet, piecing together the facts clearly reflects Bolden's skill as a history writer-her rigorous questioning of documents; her own clearly stated position on what the "facts" mean; and her extensive use of visual material, such as newspaper articles, maps, paintings, and photographs. In an author's note, Bolden tells how she first learned about Sarah, how she researched her life, and how-in the process-she found evidence that was contrary to what she expected. This book will be extremely useful to teachers and librarians seeking material to align with Common Core State Standards dealing with the craft of writing of informational text. Pair it with Bolden's Maritcha (Abrams, 2005), another book that deals with the challenges of writing history when there are gaps in available historical evidence.—Myra Zarnowski, City University of New York

    [Page 118]. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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