Heir of Slaves an Autobiography - William Pickens

In the first of two autobiographies, Pickens describes his early life struggling to help his family free themselves from a system of tenant farming otherwise known as "debt slavery" or "share cropping" in South Carolina and Arkansas during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He tells how once permitted to attend school, he excelled and eventually completed a degree at Yale. (Summary by James K. White)