RPCV Theresa Delsoin (Samoa)

Malindy’s Freedom
The Story of a Slave Family
by Mildred Johnson & Theresa Delsoin (Samoa 2004-06) 
Missouri Historical Society Press
May 2005
220 pages
$22.50 (Hardcover)

This is an account of the years 1820 to 1865 in the life of Malindy, a freeborn Cherokee who was unlawfully enslaved as a child by a Franklin County, Missouri, farmer. Married to a freedman, Malindy gave birth to five children in slavery–creating a family she would fight her whole life to keep together. As a testament to Malindy’s iron will, her great-granddaughters Mildred Johnson and Theresa Delsoin have lived to share the story passed on through their family for generations–a story of courage, conviction, and love.

In Malindy’s Freedom, Johnson and Delsoin construct a narrative that realistically re-creates Malindy’s world–the individuals she encountered, the crucibles she faced, the battles she won. The authors relied principally on census records, along with other primary and secondary sources, to document their great-grandmother’s experience as told to them by their grandmother. Malindy’s story of the “peculiar institution” of slavery is unique: it makes clear that the African American experience derives from Native American and European, as well as African, roots. The beauty of Malindy’s Freedom is the authors’ appreciation of their ancestors as human beings who did the best they could for their families under inhuman conditions.

Edited by Stuart Symington, Jr., Malindy’s Freedom brings truth and humanity to one of American history’s darkest hours. Yet, as a tale of abiding faith and steadfast love for one’s family, Malindy’s story is the story of every family that has ever struggled to survive and has ultimately been the stronger for it.

Therese Delsoin (Samoa 2004-06)

Theresa Delsoin is an author, teacher, and community leader who grew up in Pyramid Courts housing projects in Cairo, Illinois. She has published multiple books that explore healing across race relations and family histories, including the co-authored work Malindy’s Freedom: A Story of a Slave Family, which was featured as an American history book in academia. She is the first female director of a Boy’s Club within the Boys and Girls Club of America, a former US Peace Corps volunteer in Samoa (2004-06), and a leader within Southern Illinois’ NAACP chapter and Community Health and Emergency Services organization—her role as a founding member of Little Egypt Collective marks her foray into filmmaking.

She was one of the directors of the documentary ON THE BATTLEFIELD (2024) together with Lisa Marie Malloy, J.P. Sniadecki and Ray Whitaker, the film was selected at the Berlinale Forum Expanded Exhibition 2024.

Delsoin holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Chicago State University. Now retired from a career in social services, hospital administration, and mental health, she resides in North Miami Beach, Florida.