|
Bessie Stringfield didn’t remember much of her childhood.
She did, however, recall how her father saved to bring
Bessie and her mother to America. They boarded a big ship
for the journey from Jamaica to Massachusetts and for the
whole trip, Bessie’s mother was ill. Once they reached
Boston, her mother died; overwhelmed, Bessie’s father
abandoned his little girl.
Taken to an orphanage, Bessie was cared for by kindly nuns
but she longed for a family of her own. She was still a
young girl when she was adopted by a white lady who gave her
a good home and a fine education. Bessie grew to be a proper
young lady but she had one desire that was unusual for girls
then: she wanted a motorcycle. She’d seen boys on bikes and
she wanted to be “free and happy” like them.
On her birthday one year, her mother had a surprise for her…
Almost by instinct, Bessie embraced the bike and rode it
everywhere. As an adult, she traveled across the U.S. eight
times. She did “Penny Tours” by dropping a coin on a map for
her next destination. Married six times, she was more in
love with the road than she was with any man but there was
one thing that baffled Bessie: the South.
Unused to Jim Crow laws, Bessie learned to take care of
herself with speed and tricky maneuvers on her bike. Those
fancy moves helped her get jobs with sideshows where she
became The Motorcycle Queen of Miami; she entered races, and
got work with a courier service during World War II. And
when that was over, she traveled around the world before
settling down to teach.
“Man,” says author Joel Christian Gill, “she was something!”
And he’s right: Tales of the Talented Tenth: Bessie
Stringfield is a pretty amazing story.
Set at a time when women (black women in particular) had few
rights, this book tells the true tale of a pioneer on two
wheels. What makes it so appealing is that it’s entirely
illustrated and formatted like comic books of yore, which
enhances the story and its teen-friendliness. Young readers
get a great sense of Stringfield’s importance in history and
if they want more information, Gill helpfully offers
websites and further information at the end of this book.
This is a great biography for readers 12 and up, and could
be a good gift for a Motorcycle Mama of a higher age. For
them, or for anyone who wants to learn about an interesting,
little-known story, Tales of the Talented Tenth: Bessie
Stringfield is the book to see. |
