Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Lesson Plan

Mildred Taylor was born in Jackson, Mississippi on September 13, 1943, to Wilbert Lee and Deletha Marie (Davis) Taylor. She later said she "was born in a segregated city in a segregated state in a segregated America." The Taylors had lived in Missisissippi since the time of slavery. However, only three weeks after their daughter's birth, the Taylor family moved to Toledo, Ohio. Several outbreaks of racially-motivated violence had occurred in the Jackson area around September 1943, and Taylor's father decided to seek a new life for his family in the North. He chose Toledo because he already had a large network of friends and relatives there. Even after their move, the Taylor family took...