Tonya Bolden’s story, Maritcha:  A Nineteenth-Century American Girl, is a fascinating retelling of Maritcha Lyons’s unpublished 1928 memoir entitled, Memories of Yesterdays:  All of Which I Saw and Part of Which I Was.  Born and raised in New York City’s lower Manhattan to parents who ran a boardinghouse, Maritcha had a better standard of living than most of her neighbors.  The Lyon’s family boardinghouse also served as a safe-house for run-away slaves on their way to Canada, and the family members were often in danger for the risks they took to help others.  Her father’s work ethic and strict code of moral justice would prepare her for the challenges that she would face later in life.

After riots forced them from their home, the family relocated to Providence, Rhode Island.  There Maritcha wanted to attend high school, but none existed for blacks such as she.  To gain admittance, Maritcha had to make her appeal to the Rhode Island state legislature.  The legislature agreed that she could be admitted if she could pass a set of examinations to prove her aptitude for doing high school work.  Although she passed with flying colors and then excelled in her studies, it was not until her senior year in high school that students and teachers actually accepted her.  She remains in the history books as the first black person to graduate from Providence High School. 

This in-depth picture book with historical photographs and images that illustrate the time period is more than the story of young black girl.  This is also a period piece that brings the late 1800’s and early 1900’s to life.  Meticulous detail has been paid to daily events, people, and places that helped shape New York City and the United States during this time in history.