Summary

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Miss Jane Pittman follows the life of a former slave woman who recounts her life’s story over a century of Unites States history. Beginning from her time as a slave and extending into the 1960s, she describes the many hardships and lessons that have come to define her life in the South.

In the short introduction, the novel’s editor explains that he finally convinced Jane Pittman to share her life’s story during the summer of 1962, after years of pleading for the opportunity. As an educator, he acknowledges the value of the glimpse of history that she could provide from over one hundred years of living, a history that has been excluded from textbooks. By recording Jane Pittman’s words, and also using the collective knowledge of her associates to fill in the gaps left by lapses in the...