Tracing Their Steps: A Memoir

A visit to her grandmother’s house in New Orleans, a bowl of gumbo and a table full of memories open the door for Bernice Alexander Bennett’s adventure to verify that her 2x great grandfather owned a lot of land in Maurepas, Louisiana. Tracing Their Steps is a Memoir about a journey to show how the power of oral history can serve as a guide to capturing a beautiful family history. You will learn how an African American man born before the Civil War managed to acquire over 159 acres of land during the 19th century under the Homestead Act of 1862. This compelling story will keep the reader fixated on how each step and, the many twists and turns in the journey links closer to verifying that the land did exist and further clarifies what happen to this land in the 20th century.