To the Fields Through Backyards

About the Book

To the Field Through Backyards is a series of essays with poetry and photographs that depict a not so long ago era in a farming community. The book is an account of the experiences of one family that lived and worked in the southeastern North Carolina community of Leggett. It is also a reflection of life as it was lived by a majority of rural residents of North Carolina and most of the South during the first half of the 20th century. The essays permit the current younger generation a glimpse of a life that is now obsolete.

About the Author

A native of North Carolina, Bertha Kenney Haynes grew up in Leggett, a community of Tarboro. After graduating from Fisk University, she taught in Pinetops and Philadelphia, PA then moved to the Bronx, New York where she devoted 31 years to public education. Mentoring new teachers followed her retirement in 1995. She writes extensively and her work has appeared in several publications. She has taught at Malcolm-King College, The College of New Rochelle, and Mercy College. In 2002, she earned a doctorate in Education from Walden University. Her dissertation centered on combating illiteracy among African Americans through educational development.