The concept for this site began to take shape after I read Anne Moody's Coming of Age in Mississippi as a class assignment. In what proved to be an experience shared by many, the moment I finished the autobiography, I went in search of what I assumed would be an abundance of resources that would further illuminate her story. Apart from the extraordinary work of the Anne Moody History Project, resources were often surprisinly difficult to locate. To facilitate future research, a virtual archive was required, one that would provide access to separately held materials from a single online location.
The overall goal of Discover Anne Moody is to serve as a linking portal to primary and secondary sources related to Anne Moody's life, work, and influence. It is intended to help high school and undergraduate researchers locate information to inspire deeper consideration of Moody, to assure instructors who would like to suggest her as a research subject that there is information to be found, and to provide enthusiasts of her work with additional context for Coming of Age in Mississippi and her collection of short stories, Mr. Death: Four Stories.
As I researched and constructed the site, it was privilege to meet a number of people who knew Anne Moody or were moved to action by the power of her life and work:
Members of her family, including her son, Sasha Straus and her sister, Frances Jefferson
The members of the Anne Moody History Project: Roscoe Barnes, III, Ruby Dixon, Emma Taplin, and Lavern Taylor
Dr. Françoise Hamlin (Brown University)
Filmmaker, Taryn Blake
Wilkinson County, MS public librarians, Velicia Anderson and LeReginald Jones
Tougaloo College Archivist, Tony Bounds
Members of the Wilkinson County community, including Schools Superintendent, Kimberly M. Jackson and her wonderful staff
I am so grateful for their generosity and their commitment to keeping Anne Moody's work a part of ongoing examinations of race, activism, and history.
I am thankful to both Dr. Lauranett Lee (University of Richmond), whose class introduced me to Coming of Age in Mississippi, and the historian and Anne Moody biographer, Dr. Leigh Ann Wheeler (Binghamton University), who made it possible for me to visit Wilkinson County, and whose dedication to the study of Moody's life and influence has inspired countless students, collegues, and friends.
Finally, this site is dedicated to the memory of Anne Moody: the curious child, the ambitious woman, the writer, and the freedom fighter.
Shelby M. Driskill, Richmond, VA
