Читать книгу Driven toward Madness - Nikki M. Taylor - Страница 10

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My life would have little meaning without my spiritual grounding. I thank God for every ounce of support and inner strength that enabled me to finish this—my third—monograph. I also thank Ohio University Press, its board and editorial staff, for this opportunity. I am especially grateful to Director Gillian Berchowitz, as well as Diane Barnes and Paul Finkelman, for being a better publishing team than I could ever have dreamed of. I have nothing but the highest praise for the attention and time they have given to this book—as well as my first one, Frontiers of Freedom. Other presses might not have given either of these projects a chance, but this team believed in me, my vision, and capability. Perhaps that is what allowed them to put up with my countless delays. Gill Berchowitz is—hands-down—one of the most capable, intelligent, supportive, and nurturing editors in the game. I count it as an added bonus to have one of the leading legal scholars in Paul on my team. He responded to every one of my hysterical calls and emails at all hours asking for assistance detangling the legal issues in the case. He and Diane read more drafts of this manuscript than should be legal. I truly feel that this was a collective project.

I also acknowledge those who eagerly and graciously assisted me in this project. They include Ruth Wade Cox Brunings for early conversations about her perspective on this case. Although I may not agree with her, her insight helped me understand Kentucky culture, race relations, history, and memory. She very generously and graciously shared her research and allowed me to pick her brain about this case. Brunings also made arrangements for me to see the Gaines Maplewood farm, where Margaret Garner lived with her children. In addition, I thank the archivists and librarians at the Ohio and Cincinnati Historical Societies. These two institutions have been indispensable to my scholarship throughout my career, and I am forever indebted. The staff members have been generous with their time and have shared information that saved me countless hours of research time. I have noticed that over the years, the staff and services at these two institutions have been reduced in ways that created unnecessary obstacles to my research. I encourage Ohio legislators to recognize why it is imperative that they continue to fund these important institutions. I also thank Lance at the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives for searching high and low for that requisition order, the Kentucky Historical Society, and the Dallas Public Library for helping me locate copies of the Gaines family Bible.

Although many family members, friends, students, and colleagues have provided moral support throughout my entire career, one person made the difference in my finishing this book, my daughter. She embodies what Margaret Garner may have dreamed of for her own daughters: a life pregnant with possibilities, hope, and boundless freedom.