Motherwit: An Alabama Midwife's Story

A life well lived unfolds in this exuberant, unlettered telling of a midwife's story. Logan, born circa 1910 into a large, rural, God-fearing family in Sweetwater, Ala., recalls how, only a generation removed from slavery, she entered into her life's work. During 40 years she delivered hundreds of babies, mostly to poor white and black mothers in the depths of the Depression, providing help when doctors were either scarce or unwilling. Her oral biography is at once a mini-history of Southern midwifery, essentially a black phenomenon in the region, and a full-circle view of her career from initial toleration to lauded acceptance by medical professionals. In Logan's rich, regional speech as she talks with Clark, who teaches at the University of Alabama, a strong, faith-filled woman is heard; her eloquent memoir is vivid Americana. First serial to Life magazine. (Aug.)