Numbering all the Bones

Rinaldi says in the Author’s Note that the underlying mystery prompting her to research Andersonville Prison and write Numbering All the Bones was why civilians who lived near the camp did not speak out or do anything to address the obviously inhumane conditions. Why did area civilians not challenge or attempt to change the prison’s conditions?

Rinaldi calls Andersonville “a death camp–maybe the only real one to exist on American soil” (165). Research the concentration camps and military prison camps of the Nazis before and during World War II. How did the conditions at Andersonville compare to Nazi concentration camps? How did they compare to World War II prisoner-of-war camps? Research the Union Civil War military prisons. How did Andersonville compare to Union Army prisoner-of-war camps?

Rinaldi was a white author from New York who was writing about the experiences of Black individuals and those with a diverse racial background in the Civil War south, thus leading some reviewers to challenge the authenticity of what she wrote. Can any person write an authentic account of events that happened 150 years or more in the past? If an author is of a different race, gender, or geographical origin, does that make it impossible for that author to capture the truth and ambiance of a different culture?