The Glory Field

Lizzy Lewis, thirteenyearsold, is the principal character in the 1864 section of the novel. She is a slave on the Live Oaks plantation. She and her mother had been sold to Old Master Lewis when she was young. Following her mother’s death six years earlier, Lizzy was unofficially adopted by Moses and Saran. Lizzy is very close to Lem, their middle child. She also enjoys spending time with Miss Julia, the daughter of the plantation owner. She enjoys drinking tea with the young woman and wearing her clothes. Lizzy has never known anything other than life on the plantation. She has never had a freedom dream, unlike many of the other slaves. She is forced to leave the plantation to save her own life after she is caught giving water to Lem. Lizzy is a strong-willed girland joins the Union Army during the Civil War. She marries Lem’s brother, Richard, and they move to Georgia, where Richard has found work in the pulp mills. Lizzy is the mother of Elijah Lewis and the grandmother of Richard and Luvenia Lewis. 

Elijah Lewis is the son of Lizzy and Richard, and the cousin of Abby. In 1900, he is fifteenyearsold, working the land on the Glory Field, and living with his grandparents, Moses and Saran. He is Saran’s favorite grandson. Elijah was not born into slavery, but is very aware of his family’s history, what they have overcome, and the importance of the Glory Field to them. His family’s dreams are his dreams. Elijah does not aspire to leave the Glory Field; rather, he wants to work to ensure its survival. He is bright and responsible and hopes to make enough money to help his grandparents keep hold of their land. When he finds out that young David Turner is missing, he offers to find him for thirty-five dollars. He is forced to flee the Glory Field, like Lizzy before him, under threat of violence. He moves to Chicago and eventually marries Goldie Paige. They have two children, Richard and Luvenia Lewis. Although he spends much of his life in Chicago, Elijah returns to the Glory Field in 1930.

Luvenia Lewis enters the narrative in 1930’s Chicago. She is the oldest child of Elijah and Goldie, the grand-daughter of Lizzy, the great-grand-daughter of Moses and Saran, the elder sister of Richard, and the great-aunt of Malcolm. In 1930, she is sixteen-years-old, tall, dark-skinned, and working as a part-time maid and hairdresser. Luvenia is intelligent, proud, ambitious, and does not view the color of her skin as a barrier. She does not want to join her parents on the Glory Field, but has plans to attend the University of Chicago and become a teacher. When Luvenia loses her job as a maid and is unable to raise the funds for study, she starts her own hairdressing and beauty parlor business, then branches out with a cosmetics company for African-American and Hispanic women. When white cosmetics companies start to sell make-up for black skin, Luvenia then moves into the travel and real estate business. It is Luvenia who brokers the deal with the developers who buy the Glory Field. She never marries, concentrating on her business. By 1994, Luvenia is the matriarch of the Lewis family.

Tommy Lewis is the principal character in 1964, and is living in Johnson City, South Carolina. He is the son of Robert Smalls Lewis and Virginia Bates, and the grandson of Abby Lewis and Mary Hardin. Tommy is a good student and an excellent basketball player, playing for the Curry Cougars and winning the All-City Tournament. He dreams of becoming a professional basketball player. But, when Leonard Chase asks him to apply to become one of the first black students at Johnson State University, Tommy is unsure. Although he is aware of the Civil Rights Movement, he is more concerned with his own future than being at the forefront of integration. Tommy decides to take the scholarship, however, and promises Chase that he won’t take part in any marches or get into any trouble. However, when his best friend, Skeeter Jackson, is injured during a demonstration, Tommy realizes the importance of fighting for integration and equality. When he shackles himself to Sheriff Moser, it is clear that Tommy has now taken on the responsibilities of the Lewis family. Tommy marries Jennie Epps and is killed during the Vietnam War. They have a daughter, Linda.