Having Our Say

Sarah Louise (Sadie) Delany was born in 1889. Her father was a former slave and her mother's parents were a free African American woman and a white Virginia farmer.

Sarah Delany had nine siblings, including her sister, Elizabeth, born in 1891, with whom she co-authored Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years. The book chronicles the story of their well-lived lives with wit and wisdom. It begins with an idyllic childhood in North Carolina where their father was the principal of St. Augustine's School. The legislation of Jim Crow laws prompted their move to Harlem. Sarah Delany attended Pratt College, becoming a high school teacher, and Elizabeth Delany attended Columbia University, becoming a dentist. The sisters experienced most of the 20th century and describe major events such as the struggle for Civil Rights and their feelings about it.

Delany has also coauthored The Delany Sisters' Book of Everyday Wisdom and On My Own at 107: Reflections on Life Without Bessie, written following the death of her sister.

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