Lessie Jones Little
Lessie Jones Little was an influential African American author and educator, born on October 1, 1906, in Parmele, North Carolina. Growing up in a family marked by both deep religious faith and the harsh realities of poverty, she overcame her early challenges through education, eventually becoming a teacher. After marrying Weston W. Little in 1926 and moving to Washington, D.C., she worked as a clerk for the Office of the Surgeon General while raising five children.
In 1974, at the age of 67, Little began her writing career, focusing primarily on children's literature. Her most notable work, *Childtimes: A Three-Generation Memoir*, co-authored with her daughter Eloise Little Greenfield, captures the essence of life in earlier decades, illustrating a world where segregation and traditional modes of transportation defined everyday experiences. This book garnered significant acclaim, winning the Book of the Year award from the Child Study Association of America in 1979 and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award in 1980. Lessie Jones Little passed away on November 4, 1986, but her legacy continued with the posthumous publication of *Children of Long Ago*, which received the Parents' Choice Award in 1988. Her works reflect a rich cultural heritage and the experiences of African Americans across generations.
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Subject Terms
Lessie Jones Little
Nonfiction and Children's Literature Writer and Poet
- Born: October 1, 1906
- Birthplace: Parmele, North Carolina
- Died: November 4, 1986
- Place of death: Washington, D.C.
Biography
Lessie Jones was born in Parmele, North Carolina, on October 1, 1906. Her father, William Robert Jones, was a laborer, and her mother was Pattie Jones, née Ridley. She was the second oldest in her family, with an older sister, Roland, and four younger siblings, Clara; Mabel; Lillie Mae; and William, Jr. However, the family was touched by tragedy, for two of the children did not survive long. Little Billy died within hours of his birth, and Clara perished at seventeen months.
Jones’s hometown was crushingly poor; if someone was badly ill, a doctor had to be summoned from a neighboring town. Her family was deeply religious, and her father enjoyed exercising his rich bass voice in the church choir. Jones herself often speculated that she might have become a professional singer had she been born in a later time, when more opportunities were open to African Americans.
Jones escaped her childhood poverty by obtaining teacher training from North Carolina State Normal School in the summer while working during the school year. She then became a teacher until her mariage to Weston W. Little on Ocober 17, 1926. They had five children: Weston, Jr.; Eloise; Gerald; Veddie; and Vera. They moved to Washington, D.C., where Lessie found work as a clerk to the Office of the Surgeon General.
In 1974, already a grandmother, Little embarked on yet another career as a writer of children’s books. Her best-known book is Childtimes: A Three-Generation Memoir, which she wrote in collaboration with her daughter Eloise Little Greenfield. It is richly illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, who produced careful line drawings of a world in which automobiles were a rare and noteworthy sight, horses were still a routine source of power, and segregation was as expected as day following night. Little drew upon her memories of her own childhood and of her mother’s stories of growing up, and sought to draw connections between the changes that had taken place over the decades. Childtimes was selected as a 1979 Book of the Year by the Child Study Association of America, and it received the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for nonfiction in 1980.
On November 4, 1986, Little died of cancer, but a book of poems, Children of Long Ago, was published posthumously and received the Parents’ Choice Award in 1988.