BACKGROUND INFORMATION BIOGRAPHY

Ernest Gaines was born on January 15, 1933 on the River Lake Plantation on River in Pointe Coupee Parish near the town of New Roads, Louisiana (which he would call Bayonne Parish in his novels), during the middle of the Great Depression. The oldest of twelve children, he was raised by his great-aunt, Augusteen Jefferson, who provided the inspiration for Miss Jane Pittman, as well as other strong black female characters, such as Miss Emma and Tante Lou in A Lesson Before Dying. He considers she is one of the most courageous people he ever knew. This may explain why he gives the hero the name Jefferson. Gaines's first six years of school were in the plantation church, where a visiting teacher taught five to six months a year, depending on when the children were needed to work in the fields ( like the schoolchildren in A Lesson Before Dying,). Schools for Black children didn't continue past the eighth grade ( The eighth grade used to be the last year of elementary school. For many students, it marked the end of formal education. It was against the law in Louisiana during the 1940's for Blacks to attend high school or enter public libraries.) so when he was 15 Gaines rejoined his mother and stepfather in California in order to get an education . As he grew older, he wanted to read about his people and spent time in libraries, but found few books with which he could identify. So he enrolled in San Francisco State University and took writing courses at Stanford University so that he could write his own. In 1964, he published his first novel; then in 1971, the book which many consider to be his masterpiece appeared, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman . The novel he described as "folk autobiography" was based on the life of his beloved aunt. The work follows the life of a fictional Jane Pittman and summarizes the black experience in America. Gaines bases many of his stories on his memories of childhood and has written many other novels about rural black communities of Louisiana, including his most successful work to date, A Lesson Before Dying (1993), which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and received the National Book Critics Circle, the southern Writers' Conference, the Louisiana Library, John Dos Passos and Amistad Awards. Gainess novel investigates the difficulties facing blacks in the rural South during the 1940s, but the historical context of the novel spans almost a century. Following the Civil War and Reconstruction, the Jim Crow Era commenced in the 1880s and continued through the turn of the century and up until 1964. This era contained the systematic destruction of black farmers in the South at the hands of resentful whites who sought to undermine black entitlement to property, animals, financial support, and even wages. The Jim Crow Era also brought with it severe segregation laws that affected every area of life and the development of white racist organizations, such as the Ku Klux Klan, which terrorized black -communities. As a result, between one and two million black farmers left the South during the first Great Migration from 1914 to 1930, in search of work in northern cities where factory owners promised, but never provided, high-wage jobs. In the 1940s, with the outbreak of World War II, a second Great Migration brought black farmers from the rural areas in the South to the urban, industrial areasprimarily in the northern and western United Statesin search of higher-paying jobs in the burgeoning industrial economy. The second wave of migration from the rural countryside to the cities brought greater success, if only relatively. Between 1910 and 1970, more than six million blacks left the South. A Lesson Before Dying highlights the tension inherent in the lives of African-Americans during the 1940s. Gaines highlights how the pull away from the South divided blacks from their heritage and their roots, stranding them in a world where, it seemed, one had to look, talk, and act white in order to succeed. At the same time, however, remaining connected with ones rootswith the rural Southmeant having to live in a world fraught with Jim Crow laws and racial segregation (which remained in existence until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965). Racial violence and hatred pervaded all sectors of American society, but were felt most acutely in the rural South. His work has been translated into 12 different languages, and four of his works, have been made into films. Although much of his fiction deals with the racial tensions that still exist in the rural South, Gaines says he does not deliberately try to make an issue out of race. He currently conducts a seminar every spring semester at the University of South western Louisiana, where he has taught for more than ten years and is writer-in-residence. Gaines divides his time between Miami and Lafayette, Louisiana. In 1996 he was named a Chevalier de lOrdre des Arts et des Lettres, one of Frances highest decorations.

LITERARY / HISTORICAL INFORMATION

Readers of A Lesson Before Dying should understand the series of laws that created the segregated society described in the novel. After the American Civil War, Southern state legislatures enacted the Jim Crow laws, a series of codes that legalized separation of blacks and whites. The Supreme Court ruling in the case of Plessy versus Ferguson (1896) decided that separate facilities for blacks and whites were constitutional. This led to the exclusion of blacks from white restaurants, hotels, bathrooms, theaters, rest stops, drinking fountains, and schools. Blacks had their own institutions, which were usually of inferior quality. By WWI, even places of employment were segregated, and it wasnt until after World War II that blacks made any progress toward equality. In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown versus Board of Education that racially segregated school facilities were unconstitutional. Following this, Blacks used a variety of protest methods, including sit-ins, marches, boycotts, and legal suits to hasten the demise of discrimination, which eventually resulted in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The Pre-Civil Rights South The pre-Civil Rights era bridges the gap between the end of the Civil War (1865) and the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement (1955). For African Americans, it spans the turbulent years between the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation (January 31, 1863), which marked the beginning of the end of slavery, and the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which guaranteed the rights of African Americans as full-fledged citizens. For black Americans, the pre-Civil Rights era was a time of danger and chaos, as they set out to claim their rights as U.S. citizens in a hostile country that refused to grant them those rights. As Gaines illustrates in depicting the lives of the people in the quarter, many blacks lived in poverty, denied the right to earn a decent wage by white landowners who kept them in a virtual state of slavery as sharecroppers. Although the Emancipation Proclamation abolished slavery in the Confederate states, it was not until the passage of the thirteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution two years later (December 18, 1865) that slavery was abolished throughout the country. To diminish its effect, the Ku Klux Klan, founded in Pulaski, Tennessee, began its reign of terror against newly enfranchised blacks, marking the beginning of a series of events aiming at keeping blacks in their place. Following the passage of the fifteenth amendment (March 30, 1870) granting all male citizens the right to vote, Southern states took immediate steps to prevent blacks from exercising their voting rights. These included establishing poll taxes, literacy tests, property and registration requirements, and the grandfather clause, which allowed an individual to vote only if his grandfather could vote as of January 1, 1866. (The poll tax would finally be outlawed by the twenty-fourth amendment, adopted in 1964.) In 1875, Tennessees Jim Crow laws legalized the segregation of public facilities. In 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Plessy vs. Ferguson, decreed separate but equal accommodations for African Americans. And in 1918, the end of World War I launched a renewed wave of violence against blacks when, as U.S. soldiers, they had experienced a respite from racism overseas and returned to their homes and demanded their civil and human rights. Hundreds were lynched, some still in uniform. The violence culminated in the Red Summer of 1919, when race riots erupted in July in the District of Columbia, and twenty-five major American cities. The post-World War II years saw a continuation of the black struggle for equal rights, which held little hope. According to a report from the Southern Regional Council, in 1947, only 12 percent (around 600,000) of African Americans living in the South were eligible to register to vote. In 1948, President Truman signed Executive Order 9981, ending segregation in the U.S. armed forces, but integration was not officially completed until six years later (October 1954).

In the following chronology, (italicized) that had a critical and human rights. The frame (September 2, 1945) and the

events in the novel are presented within the context of historical events impact on the lives of African Americans and their ongoing struggle for civil of reference is provided by two major historical eras: the end of World War II beginning of the Civil Rights Movement (December 5, 1955). Note: (1) Since

Gaines does not cite specific days or dates, all times are approximate; (2) Numbers in brackets [ ] indicate chapter numbers. The events in the novel span approximately six monthsfrom October 1948 to April 1949the period between Jeffersons trial and execution. These six months correspond to the grinding season and to the academic school year at the plantation church/school.

1939-1945 World War II 1946 Joe Louis successfully defends his world heavyweight boxing championship for the twenty-third time. 1947 CORE (The Congress of Racial Equality) sends the first April Freedom Riders into the South to test the 1946 Supreme Court ban on segregated interstate buses. April 11 Jackie Robinson signs a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first African American to play professional baseball in the major leagues. 1948 June A. Philip Randolph forms the League for Non violent Disobedience Against Military Segregation. July 26 President Truman signs Executive Order 9981, ending segregation in the U.S. armed forces. Six years later (Oct 1954), integration is officially completed. Attempts by African Americans to vote stir a wave of violence in the South.

October 1948 Friday Jeffersons trial. The all-white jury finds Jefferson guilty of robbery and first-degree murder. Monday morning The judge sentences Jefferson to death by electrocution. [1] Monday afternoon Miss Emma, Tante Lou, and Grant go to Henri Pichots mansion to ask about prison visiting privileges for Grant.[3] Tuesday Mr. Farrell Jarreau tells Grant that Pichot will meet him at five oclock. [5] Tuesday evening Grant is kept waiting in Pichots kitchen for 2 1/2 hours. The sheriff tells Grant that he can start visiting Jefferson in a couple of weeks. [6] Thursday Dr. Joseph Morgan, the white school superintendent, makes his annual visit to Grants school. [7] The following week Two old men Henry Lewis and Amos Thomas deliver the first load of wood to Grants school, marking the beginning of winter. [8] November 1948 Grant and Miss Emma make three trips to the county jail to visit Jefferson. [9] Friday Grant makes his first solo trip to the jail. On his way home, Grant stops by the Rainbow Club, where the men are discussing Jackie Robinson. [10-12] Termination Sunday Vivian meets the church ladies. After inquiring into her background, Tante Lou declares Vivian to be a lady of quality, signalling her acceptance into the community of women. [13-15] December 1948 Monday Miss Emma tells Grant about Jeffersons rude behaviour during her last visit. Grant tries but fails to convince her to discontinue the visits. [16] Friday Grant visits Jefferson, and Paul Bonin, the young deputy, suggests they call each other by name. [17] Grant learns that Tante Lou, Miss Emma, and Rev. Ambrose have asked Sheriff Guidrys wife to see if they can visit Jefferson in a more comfortable room. After ascertaining that Grant had nothing to do with their scheme, the sheriff lets Jefferson choose whether he wants to meet his visitors in his cell or in the dayroom. [18] Christmas Day People from the quarter gather for the annual Christmas program. [19] 1949 Grant and Rev. Ambrose are summoned to Henri Pichots house, where Sheriff Guidry tells them that the date has been set for Jeffersons execution. [20-21] Friday Grant visits Jefferson and they talk for the first time. Afterward, Grant stops by the Rainbow Club, where he borrows money to buy Jefferson a radio. [22] Monday Grant learns that Jefferson refused to meet his visitors in the dayroom because he was not allowed to bring his radio. Tante Lou, Miss Emma, and Rev. Ambrose accuse Grant of endangering Jeffersons soul by giving him the radio. Grant tells them that Jefferson needs the radio to help him keep his mind off his impending death. Wednesday He convinces Jefferson to meet his visitors in the dayroom and promises to bring him a notebook and pencil. [23] Grant talks to Jefferson about being a hero. That evening, Grant goes to the Rainbow Club and gets into a fight with two mulatto bricklayers. [24-26] Sunday Rev. Ambrose confronts Grant about his lack of faith. The men debate religion, education, and the value of saving Grants soul versus saving his pride. [27] Grant persuades Jefferson to talk to Rev. Ambrose. They discuss prayer and dying. [28] April 1949 Jefferson records the final days of his life in his diary. Paul tells Grant about Jeffersons death and presents him with the diary. [29-31]
Jackie Robinson receives the National Leagues Most Valuable Player award.

Joe Louis retires as World Heavyweight boxing champion, after holding the title for a record 11 years and 8 months. 1954 May 17 The Supreme Court outlaws school segregation in Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka, overturning the 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson ruling that established separate but equal facilities for blacks and whites. 1955 Dec 5 The Montgomery Bus Boycott in response to Rosa Parks arrest on Dec. 1 for refusing to give up her seat on a bus launches the Civil Rights movement. The movement has since made impressive gains with the adoption of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the 1990 Civil Rights Act, which addressed the most egregious discriminatory practices. However, issues such as the lack of good legal counsel for impoverished African Americans charged with crimes (resulting in a disproportionate number of African-American men in prisons and on death row) and inadequate representation of African Americans among the professional classes indicate the continuing need for attention to equal opportunity and civil rights.