Anne Moody facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Anne Moody
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Moody in the 1970s
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| Born |
Essie Mae Moody
September 15, 1940 Mississippi, U.S.
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| Died | February 5, 2015 (aged 74) Gloster, Mississippi, U.S.
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| Education | Natchez Junior College; Tougaloo College |
| Occupation | Author |
| Known for | Civil rights activism |
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Notable work
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Coming of Age in Mississippi (1968) |
Anne Moody (born September 15, 1940 – died February 5, 2015) was an American author. She wrote about her life growing up poor and Black in rural Mississippi. She was also an important part of the Civil Rights Movement.
Anne Moody joined groups like the NAACP, CORE, and SNCC. She started fighting against racism and segregation when she was young. She continued this fight throughout her adult life across the American South.
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Anne Moody's Early Life
Anne Moody was born Essie Mae Moody on September 15, 1940. She was the oldest of eight children. When she was about five or six, her parents separated. She lived with her mother, Elmira, in Centreville, Mississippi. Her father, Diddly, lived nearby in Woodville.
From a young age, Anne worked for white families. She cleaned houses and helped children with homework. She earned only a few dollars each week. Despite this, she got excellent grades in school and helped at her church.
Education and Activism
After finishing high school with honors, Anne went to Natchez Junior College in 1961. This college was all-Black. She attended on a basketball scholarship.
Later, she moved to Tougaloo College on an academic scholarship. There, she earned her bachelor's degree. At Tougaloo, she became deeply involved in the Civil Rights Movement. She joined CORE, NAACP, and SNCC.
After graduating, Anne Moody became a full-time civil rights worker. She took part in many protests, including marches and sit-ins.
The Woolworth's Sit-in
One famous protest Anne joined was a sit-in at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Jackson. A group of people attacked her and other students, including Joan Trumpauer. They poured flour, salt, sugar, and mustard on them. A newspaper photo from the Jackson Daily News showed this event.
Two weeks after this sit-in, Medgar Evers, a leader of the NAACP in Mississippi, was killed. Anne Moody was also arrested in Jackson for trying to protest inside a post office with 13 other people.
Life After the Movement
In the 1960s, Anne Moody moved to New York. She lived a quiet life there for many years. During this time, she did not give interviews. It was in New York that she wrote her famous book, Coming of Age in Mississippi. She also worked various jobs that were not related to writing.
In 1967, Anne married Austin Strauss. They had a son named Sasha Strauss in 1971. In 1972, her family moved to Berlin for a scholarship. They returned to America in 1974. Anne Moody wrote another book, Mr. Death: Four Stories, in 1975. This book was a collection of short stories meant to teach young people about dying.
She also wrote a sequel to her autobiography called Farewell to Too Sweet. This book covered her life from 1974 to 1984. She mentioned writing other books, but they were never published. Anne Moody moved back to Mississippi in the early 1990s.
Anne Moody's Passing
Anne Moody passed away on February 5, 2015. She was 74 years old. She died at her home in Gloster, Mississippi. In her later years, she had dementia. Her younger sister, Adline Moody, cared for her.
Her Famous Autobiography
Anne Moody's autobiography, Coming of Age in Mississippi (published in 1968), is very well-known. Senator Edward Kennedy praised it for showing the life of a young African American during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
Her book shares what life was like in rural Mississippi. It shows the many challenges and unfair treatments that African Americans, especially women, faced regularly. Anne grew up in a home where her mother tried to stop her from questioning segregation. The book has been translated into seven languages and sold worldwide.
Awards and Later Works
In 1969, Coming of Age in Mississippi received the Brotherhood Award. This award came from the National Council of Christians and Jews. It also won the Best Book of the Year Award from the National Library Association.
In 1972, Moody worked as an artist-in-residence in Berlin. She also worked at Cornell. In 1975, she released her collection of short stories, Mr. Death: Four Stories. One of these stories, New Hope for the Seventies, won an award from Mademoiselle magazine.
Anne Moody chose to stay out of the public eye after the Civil Rights Movement. She needed time to recover from the difficult experiences she went through. She lived in New York City and worked as a counselor. Before she passed away, she was working on another book called The Clay Gully.
Books by Anne Moody
- Coming of Age in Mississippi (Delta reprint, 2004, ISBN: 978-0385337816). (non-fiction, autobiography)
- Mr. Death: Four Stories (1975). (short stories)
Images for kids
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Moody in the 1970s
