The Awakening: The Seawright-Ellison Family Saga, Vol. 1, A Narrative History

The Awakening: The Seawright-Ellison Family Saga, Vol.1, A Narrative History, is the first volume in a narrative history about the descendants of two families that share a common ancestor, Martha Kitchings Seawright Ellison, born into slavery, in 1849, in Aiken County, South Carolina. The book documents the beginnings of the family saga through Martha’s life during slavery, the Civil War, The Reconstruction Era, and family life in Aiken County and beyond. The book documents the saga with contextualized resurrected stories of relatives forgotten over the years who were contributory figures of African American history in Aiken County, South Carolina, and beyond.

The book includes family connections to localized history that features the African American Founding of Aiken County, The Harlem Renaissance, The Civil Rights Movement in South Carolina, and much more. The book includes the biography of Tommy Ellison, whose experiences as a youth singing on the children choir at Smyrna Missionary Baptist Church, near Springfield, South Carolina, inspired him to pursue a legendary career in gospel music, affectionately known by his fans as ＂Mr. Superstar of Gospel.＂

The book is the 2022 African American Historical & Genealogical Society Book Award Winner (Non-Fiction/Regional Genealogy), Literary Titan Gold Award Winner, 2023 National Indie Excellence Award Finalist (African American Non-Fiction & Regional Non-Fiction Southeast).