Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County

A brief prologue recalls the black housekeeper, Elsie Lancaster, who worked for Green’s family during her childhood in rural Farmville, Virginia. Green recounts a typical Wednesday when Lancaster performed weekly cleanings. Green, her mother, and Lancaster would eat lunch together in the middle of Lancaster’s day of vacuuming and scrubbing. Lancaster also provided childcare when Green’s mother ran errands, supervising Green and her brothers.

Green’s mother used to say that “Elsie was part of our family” (2)—she had also worked for Green’s grandmother—but there was more to the story, as the author later learned. During the nationwide school desegregation in the 1950s, the local leaders decided to close all the public schools rather than allow blacks and whites to attend school together. What Green didn’t know at the time was that her family was part of that initiative and that her grandfather had taken action to oppose desegregation. As a result, Lancaster and her husband had to make a painful decision regarding their daughter, one the author does not elaborate on here except to say that Lancaster second-guessed it her entire life.