Charcoal and Chalk Review

Ms. Burlingame is primarily a historian. After inheriting her great grandfather's records, she of course was motivated to tell his story, and a captivating one it is. As an immigrant from Scotland in 1867, and a missionary to the freed slaves in Lavaca, Texas, John Ogilvie found himself in a very lonely place. A lesser man would have given up the cause due to seemingly insurmountable odds. But the support he received from the black community, who desperately wanted to become literate citizens, kept him going. The struggles with the bureaucracy of the state Freedman Bureau and the American Missionary Association were maddening to Ogilvie and to me as the reader. Many times during the development of the story, I experienced a sadness about how long our African-American population has had to endure prejudicial treatment in our society. Burlingame did a good job melding facts and fiction for this first writing attempt. There were times, however, that I wished her style was somewhat less pedantic. Overall, Ogilvie's story trumps the style, or lack thereof. I think he would be pleased that it was told.