Having our say

Annie Elizabeth "Bessie" Delany was an American dentist and civil rights pioneer. Delany was born in Lynch's Station, Virginia, the third eldest of ten children born to the Rev. Henry Beard Delany (who was born into slavery), the first black person elected Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States, and Nanny Logan Delany, an educator. Bessie was raised on the campus of St. Augustine's School (now University) in Raleigh, North Carolina, where her father was the vice principal and her...

Amy Hill Hearth is an American journalist and author who focuses on uniquely American stories and perspectives from the past. She is the author or co-author of eleven books, beginning in 1993 with the oral history Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years, a New York Times bestseller for 117 weeks. The book was adapted for Broadway in 1995 and for a film in 1999. An unusually versatile author, Hearth has published both fiction and nonfiction, and books for adults as well as chil...

Sarah Louise "Sadie" Delany was an American educator and civil rights pioneer. Delany was born in Lynch's Station, Virginia, the second eldest of ten children born to the Rev. Henry Beard Delany (who was born into slavery), the first black person elected Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States, and Nanny Logan Delany, an educator. Delany was raised on the campus of St. Augustine's School (now University) in Raleigh, North Carolina, where her father was the vice principal and her m...