The Africans say that it takes a village to raise a child. In creating this book, I am fortunate to have had the assistance of my own village of supporters. Mariah Cooper persisted doggedly until she was able to uncover long-buried family secrets; Lolita Paiewonsky and Christen Enos read my early drafts and helped me find my writing voice; Mr. Clair Willcox, Sara Davis and the rest of the people at the University of Missouri Press provided invaluable editorial support.
I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Mrs. Laranita Dougas, Reverend Theodore Hesburgh, Judge George N. Leighton, James Montgomery, Esq., Mr. Rocco Siciliano, and Judge Anna Diggs Taylor for taking time out of their busy schedules to share their memories of J. Ernest Wilkins with me.
I would also like to thank the many librarians and archivists who helped me in my quest: Carmen Beck, Lincoln University; Robin Beck, University of Illinois; Diane Black, Tennessee State Library Archives; Frances Bristol, Archives of The United Methodist Church; Robin Charlaw, Harvard University Archives; Jean Church, Howard University; Katherine Collett, Hamilton College Library; Julia Gardner, University of Chicago Library; Fred Gillespie, Pilgrim Baptist Church; Daniel Hartwig, Yale University Archives; Michelle Kopfer, Dwight D. Eisenhower Archives; William J. Maher, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Katie McMahon, Newberry Library; Amber Miranda, Southeastern Missouri State University; Karen Roman, Travis Trokey, Farmington Public Library; Andrea Savoy, Cynthia Weidner, Sigma Pi Phi Archives; Jessie Carney Smith, Fisk University and Linda Stinson at the Department of Labor Archives.
I am grateful for the help of my Farmington friends Bill Matthews, Vonne Phillips, Bob Lewis and Faye Sitzes, and my Oxford friends Hollis Crowder and Joan Bratton at the Skipwith Historical Society, for sharing their files, research acumen and stories with me.
I'd also like to extend a warm thank-you to Dr. James “Chris” Wright and his family. I am especially grateful for having had the chance to correspond with Mrs. Ethel Porter before she died.
My family has been incredible. Aunt Connie and Mom patiently answered my many questions for hours on end. David, Ann Marie, Timothy, Stephen, Emelda, Sally, Jason, Rebecca and Lance each offered love, ideas, encouragement and support. My daughter Sarah's insightful comments gave me much-needed perspective, while my husband, John, stood by me every step of the way. Without his research expertise, creative input and sustaining love, the book you now hold in your hands would still be a sheaf of pages buried at the bottom of my desk drawer.