All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake

Consider the article “ by Shirley J. Carson. How does the article’s discussion of Black women’s style and appearance compare with Miles’s discussion in All That She Carried? How did Black women’s Victorian-era identity differ from that of white women?

When All That She Carried first published, Ashley’s Sack was on display at the Smithsonian but still owned by the Middleton Place Foundation. What are the potential issues associated with the ownership of Ashley’s Sack? Should restrictions prevent important objects with social and national relevance from private ownership?

What other material documents exist that shed light on the daily experiences of enslaved men and women? Consider exhibits at the National Museum of African American History and Culture and other institutions. Choose one and trace its history and ownership, describing its importance to the present day.

From Miles’s research, it seems that Ashley and Ruth shared a special bond. Consider the relationships between grandparents and their grandchildren and how these relationships differ in significance and dynamics from parents’ relationships with their children. How are these tendencies apparent in the relationship between Ashley and Ruth?

What aspects of Charleston and the surrounding Lowcountry area are unique to the legal and social circumstances of the culture of slavery that existed there? Which elements influenced the economy and the financial interests of planters and founders?

Ruth and Dorothy’s life in Philadelphia was dramatically different from Ruth’s upbringing in the Lowcountry. Which elements of her life were different for her when she moved north, and which changed little if at all? How were these changes and stagnancies a reflection of the larger cultural changes throughout the United States?

Consider the Victorian tradition of treasuring and preserving locks of hair from their loved ones as remembrances. How was Ruth’s gift to Ashley an echo of that tradition, and how was it her own unique gesture? What did hair symbolize for African American women during the period of slavery in the United States? Research and examine how those traditions have endured and the iterations of that symbolism today.

Discuss the role of food in All That She Carried. How did food serve as another means of familial and cultural expression among Black women throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries?