by Michael K. Johnson (Author)
Born in the Barker mining district of central Montana Territory, Rose Beatrice Gordon (1883-1968) was the daughter of an African American chef and an emancipated slave who migrated to the West in the early 1880s. This book tells the story of the Gordon family--John, Anna, Robert, Rose, John Francis Jr., George, and Taylor--and pays tribute to Rose, who lived most of her life in White Sulphur Springs. In her youth, Rose excelled academically and distinguished herself as a musical performer. As an adult, she established her economic independence as a restaurant owner, massage therapist, and caregiver. She also made a place for herself in the public sphere through letters to the editor and eventually through a regular newspaper column for the Meagher County News--a remarkable undertaking at a time when Black women in America were largely denied a public voice. As a Black woman in the West, Gordon's life was ordinary in terms of its day-to-day struggles but extraordinary in its sum.