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The War Years
The civil war is raging on, and though Ticey (Miss Jane Brown) has been separated from her parents and abused by her masters, she is still a scrawny, naive little girl. She is about twelve years old and has lived her entire life as a domestic slave in Louisiana, and as a result knows little of the outside world. -
Ticey is named "Jane Brown".
One day towards the end of the Civil War, Ticey, an orphaned slave in Louisiana, meets a Union Soldier (pictured here) who promises her that once she is free, she can come live with him in Ohio. In addition, he tells her that "Ticey" is a slave name and he gives her his daughter's name, Jane Brown. Jane refuses to abandon her new name even when her masters beat her. As punishment, she no longer does housework and must labor in the fields. -
Emancipation
The slaves are told that they are now free. Jane is giddy with joy and keen to reach Ohio despite the huge distance from Louisiana. She joins those who want to leave the plantation rather than stay and work for wages. They are discovered by white extremests who kill everyone but Jane and a little boy named Ned. They continue on, trying to reach Ohio. (These slaves are celebrating their freedom.) -
Mr. Bone's plantation
After a few weeks of travel and receiving help from a variety of people, most of whom tell them that Ohio is out of their reach, Jane and Ned encounter a man on a parish named Job. He shelters them for a little while and takes them to a nearby plantation (shown here) owned by a man named Mr. Bone. Mr. Bone pays for Ned's education and lets Jane work on his plantation for a low wage. Jane works as hard and as well as the adults on the plantation and as a result gets a pay raise. -
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Reconstruction
The Reconstruction Era ushers in a new kind of life for Ned and Jane. No longer slaves, they have been left to fend for themselves in the big wide world. This period in their lives is chaotic and dangerous, as they are constantly at risk of being attacked by white supremacists. -
Ned leaves
When Colonel Dye, the original owner of the plantation, buys back his property and starts to treat the workers like slaves again, many blacks want to escape to the North. Ned, (shown here,) now a teenager, helps many leave. The Ku Klux Klan threatens his life and Ned is forced to leave Jane to move to Kansas, where he receives an education and joins the army. This is very hard for Jane, who has come to regard Ned as her own son. -
Joe Pittman
Jane falls in love with a man named Joe Pittman. They have an unofficial marriage and settle down close to the Texas border. Joe becomes a horse breaker on a ranch. -
Joe Pittman's death
Jane begins having dreams that Joe will be thrown from a black stallion and killed. When Joe acquires a new horse like the one in Jane's dreams, Jane tries to convince Joe to give up on the horse and even goes to a hoodoo woman for help. One day, Joe really is killed by the stallion. Jane settles in another part of Louisiana. -
Ned returns
Ned, now a father of three, returns to Jane. He settles down and begins the construction of a school for blacks, meanwhile holding lessons in other locations. -
Ned's death
Ned's lessons about civil rights anger local white extremists, and they recruit a poor white friend of Jane's by the name of Albert Cluveau to murder him. Albert tells Jane of this, and Jane is terrified. One day, Albert comes for Ned with a gun, while he is walking down the street with his students. Albert first shoots Ned in the knee in an attempt to make Ned kneel before him, but when Ned continues to walk forward, Albert shoots to kill. -
Robert Samson's plantation
Jane comes to a plantation owned by a man named Robert Samson. Robert, a white man, has had an affair with a black woman who has left him a son, Timmy. Despite his mother and father's contempt for Timmy, Tee Bob, Robert's son by a white woman, has a close relationship with his black half-brother. Timmy is eventually banished from the plantation for his rebellious spirit. -
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The Plantation
Jane moves to a new plantation to escape the painful memories of Ned's life. There, she becomes involved with the local church and works as a maid in the Samson's home. -
Tee Bob's death
The local schoolhouse goes through two different teachers before Mary Agnes LeFarbe, a kind Creole woman, arrives. Tee Bob falls in love with Mary despite his knowledge that she is not entirely white and his engagement to another woman. Tee Bob, after being turned down by Mary, sexually assaults her and commits suicide. Tee Bob's godfather criticizes those who blame Mary Agnes and acknowledges that the system of segregation is to blame. -
Jimmy Aaron
Jimmy Aaron, who has been raised by the elderly in the quarters, reads to them and writes their letters. Jane tells of how he would often tell her that Jackie Robinson and the Dodgers had won the game even when they had done poorly, just to make her feel good. The elders, hopeful that he will be the savior, chastise him for petty mistakes and try to get him involved in the church. -
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The Quarters
Five years after Tee Bob's death, Jane leaves the plantation to live in a black community called "the Quarters". -
Jimmy Aaron's death
Jimmy Aaron returns to the Quarters after years of being away and is eager to share what he has learned about the civil rights movement with the people who live there. Jane, though old and weak, agrees to join his upcoming protest at the courthouse. Jimmy is shot dead on his way to the bus stop. Jane and another man carry his body home and go on to the protest despite the tragedy.
