The Hairstons

An American Family in Black and White

By: Henry Wiencek

Narrated by: David Colacci

Length: 15 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

As the country enters a new era of conversations around race and the enduring impact of slavery, The Hairstons traces the rise and fall of the largest slaveholding family in the Old South as its descendants - both black and white - grapple with the twisted legacy of their past.

Spanning two centuries of one family’s history, The Hairstons tells the extraordinary story of the Hairston clan, once the wealthiest family in the Old South and the largest slaveholder in America. With several thousand black and white members, the Hairstons of today share a complex and compelling history: divided in the time of slavery, they have come to embrace their past as one family.

For seven years, journalist Henry Wiencek combed the far-reaching branches of the Hairston family tree to piece together a family history that involves the experiences of both plantation owners and their slaves. Crisscrossing the old plantation country of Virginia, North Carolina, and Mississippi, The Hairstons reconstructs the triumphant rise of the remarkable children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of the enslaved as they fought to take their rightful place in mainstream America. It also follows the white descendants through the decline and fall of the Old South, and uncovers the hidden history of slavery's curse - and how that curse followed slaveholders for generations.

Expertly weaving stories of horror, tragedy, and heroism, The Hairstons addresses our nation’s attempt to untangle the twisted legacy of the past, and provides a transcendent account of the human power to overcome.

©1999 Henry Wiencek. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Not since Mary Chestnut's Civil War has nonfiction about the South been as compelling as fiction.” (Time)

"Wiencek, who has written for Smithsonian and American Heritage magazines, has spent eight years unraveling the mystery of the Hairstons (pronounced Harston), said to be 'the largest family in America.' What Wiencek has turned up is nothing if not intriguing, including aspects which are worthy of further exploration.... Amid these huge plantations, for example, are unacknowledged children of their masters who become enslaved butlers, servants, and housekeepers, or children who were forced to keep their mother's maiden name to disguise their heritage.... [An] eerily fascinating account.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“Wiencek's lovingly detailed history of the complicated relationships among the various strains of this huge, tragically divided Old South family has been called a metaphor for the nation, but a more accurate description would lie in the words of Robert Penn Warren, who said, 'The past is never past.'” (The Dallas Morning News)

My Fam History

excellent story of the Hairston family in which I am a part both gra parents were Hairston

My family

I loved this book so much, I became a little emotional when talked about all of my ancestors which many was mentioned in the book. And also when be mentioned the plantations that are very close to me and it’s all gone. I loved how he traveled different parts and got each side of masters and slaves experiences while at plantations and etc. Also Flo is my close relative and is still living here in VA. And it was just amazing to find out about all of theses things that happened in my backyard. Some things we still own but most are gone. I would recommend this book to anyone if you love history, and finding out stocking things, mainly here in Virginia. (It’s also emotionally, but makes you feel good to see how far is blacks came)