The Atrium

Every so often I feel compelled to suggest a book solely for it's merits and not because of it's relation to another topic or interest. The book A Stronger Kinship by Anna-Lisa Cox is just such a one. The author is a historian at the Newberry Library in Chicago.

A true story set in the town of Covert Michigan during the latter half of the nineteenth century it tells the tale of one towns unique population. Building on the lives of runaway slaves, freed blacks, aboltionist New Englanders the reader encounters a group of people who felt that one was equal regardless of color. The population of Covert was integrated at a time when America was not. What is remarkable is that to this day this community has stayed true to the original conviction of the pioneer generation. It conveys the sense that intentional community is not always impossible, and that ones morals can be lived out in ordinary life.