Artelia: Portrait of an African American Matriarch

Artelia: Portrait of an African American Matriarch chronicles Artelia’s life as she faced the challenges of a lonely childhood, her struggle with family illnesses and death, difficulties in marriage, mothering 16 children, and her triumphant personal development as an early childhood educator and leader in her church and community. Artelia’s story affirms for American mothers that they are ordained by God to be faithful help meets for their husbands, primary nurturers of their children, and leaders in their sphere of influence outside the parameters of their families. It encourages men to know that they can support and promote their wives’ endeavors without any sacrifice to their own advancement.

Artelia: Portrait of an African American Matriarch by Joyce Marsh Perry Edwards is the story of an African-American woman who began life as a nervous and lonely child in Durham, North Carolina, feeling ostracized by her extended family. Her father sent her to an excellent preparatory school for African-American youth and then to a well-regarded college for African-American women. She married early and had 16 children. The story chronicles Artelia’s life as she faced the challenges of loneliness, family deaths, illnesses, marriage, and motherhood, finally to complete college at the age of 51 and become a confident educator and a leader in her church and community. The narrative is folklore in the tradition of Zora Neale Hurston and J. California Cooper, using the life events of an ordinary person to portray an extraordinary life journey that reflects the experiences of many African American women in the South. Written by Durham native and daughter of the subject, the author was inspired by the narrative fiction genre used by Isabel Wilkerson in The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration. Also, the book fulfills its intent as inspirational exposition, affirming for African American mothers that they are ordained by God to be faithful partners to their husbands, primary nurturers of their children, and leaders among their people. It encourages men to know that they can help their wives carry out their purposes without any sacrifice to their own legacy. The author uses her knowledge of history, sociology, and psychology to contextualize her mother’s development in terms of her family constellation, the Durham community, the Black Church, and societal conditions in the South. Readers who enjoy Southern history enjoy her interpretation of how the unique political, socio-cultural, and economic conditions in Durham between 1920 and 1960 influenced Artelia’s life development. Artelia was written to celebrate Artelia’s 90th birthday and to initiate the Lawrence & Artelia Perry Scholarship Fund. All proceeds from the book support the Fund, which was organized to provide support for students at Bennett College (Greensboro, NC), Livingstone College (Salisbury, NC), and North Carolina Central University (Durham, NC), schools that have been instrumental in Artelia’s life and the life of her progeny.

Joyce Marsh Perry Edwards is one of Artelia’s daughters. She is a retired public school educator and college professor. She holds five post-secondary degrees including three master’s degrees and the Ph.D. in psychology. Dr. Edwards presently writes faith development literature for children in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and is married to the Reverend Dr. Murray L. Edwards.