Separate Fountains

By Patti Wilson Byars

Book Overview

A firsthand look at a not-so-long ago era in American history by an author who lived its pages -- join Katie Jane Taylor and Ardella, the housekeeper, as together their families weather illness, hardship, hatred and prejudice -- all in a town where blacks and whites didn't mix. Early rumblings of the Civil Rights Movement shook many towns across the south in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and in Separate Fountains, author Patti Wilson Byars shows that her hometown of Jonesboro, Georgia was not excluded. Jonesboro reflected the typical sleepy, little southern town of that era -- where bigotry, along with the magnolias, was in full bloom. Georgia's red clay roads led into Jonesboro where soda fountains enticed children out of the hot sun. But, that same red clay also stained neighbors' shoes that stuck out from underneath white robes. The dichotomy of the ideal and the unjust could be found in picturesque Jonesboro -- as it could in most any other Southern town. In Separate Fountains, twelve year old Katie Jane Taylor questions the social issues of the south of the 1940s and 1950s as her beloved black housekeeper, Ardella, has to drink from a water fountain marked "COLORED" and has to ride behind the white line on the Greyhound bus to Atlanta. Katie Jane also challenges her father to stand up against the Ku Klux Klan and how they control the political and social climate of the town. One day while in the drugstore, Katie Jane and her six year old brother, Josh, eavesdrop on a conversation between Ku Klux Klan members and learn that Ardella's brother is the Klan's next victim. Separate Fountains is history not found in textbooks. It's history every American citizen needs to know -- as our nation continues to fight against racial and ethnic discrimination. SEPARATE FOUNTAINS stresses tolerance for others -- no matter race or creed.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1512208159
• ISBN13: 9781512208153
• Release Date: May 2015
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 226 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

I loved this book!

Mrs. Byars has written a masterpiece. I laughed and cried. The images are vivid and you can imagine yourself on the streets of Jonesboro in the 1940's. What a great tribute to her father, a man with great integrity and honor. A man who did not see color only the goodness in a person.

Classic in the Making

Separate Fountains is an absolute joy to any reader of any age. This story of how the unbreakable love of a family overcomes all odds will warm your soul and tickle your funnybone. I thought the reading was very much like Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird". This book is very very hard to put down. Once you begin, you are swept off into the South to feel the fear that was caused by the cold grip of the Klu Klux Klan and how good honest folk of Jonesboro thwarted their schemes to keep as much peace in the town alive as possible. If you are in need of an uplifting experience, this is the book for you. True family love will always rise above all that opposes it, and True friends will always be there when you least expect it. This is a book for everyone; be sure to pick up a copy for yourself and another for someone you love!

Great reading requirement for schools!

Patti Byars has written a most accurate and sensitive book on life as it really was in the rural south during the 40's and 50's. She handles segregation and its people, the good and the bad, with truth and dignity. Separate Fountains would be a great reading requirement in schools.

This one is a must

I can't stress how deeply this book moved me. As a child of the North I simply didn't know that such conditions existed. Yes, I was well read and also active in civil rights in the early fifties, nevertheless, I didn't nor could I know about the agonies and fear of everyday life. Ms Byers does a brilliant job of bringing to life - a small Georgia family over a number of years but most of the action happens over one hot summer in post-world war II United States. This book should be required reading for Americans and would be eye-opening for most Europeans.

The 40's and 50's were hard times in the deep south.

Growing up sheltered in a small town in Georgia the author learned lessons of faith and courage by watching the examples of her parents and their friends. The author deals openly with race, poverty and disease. Many of us who are familiar with her time and location identify with the trials of the family. Others will learn more about the daily life of small southern towns before the era of civil rights .