Eugenie Laverne Mitchell (1892-1962) was an American author who wrote primarily about the black experience, particularly African Americans in the South during the 1800s. She was born in 1892 into a family of slaves, and after emancipation, moved with her family to Selma, Alabama. Thrown out of school for fighting with another student, she continued her education by working as a maid, babysitter, and traveling salesperson. As she grew older she became more involved in documenting these experiences for her own children's children
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She published her first book, "The Story of My Life", in 1928. By the time of her death in 1962 she had written more than thirty books on contemporary life for African Americans, including biographies on black leaders such as Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglass.