The Chickenbone Special

Atlanta: Southern Regional Council, 1970. First Edition. First printing. Octavo (26cm). Staple-bound pictorial wrappers; 44pp; illus. Clean, Near Fine copy. Issued as no. 2 in the S.R.C. Leadership series.

Somewhat uncommon SRC pamphlet, adapted from a feature story describing the northward migration of southern Black families, focused on the Gibson family of Williamsburg County, S.C. The book takes its title from the colloquial name for trains carrying rural laborers out of the south and into northern cities. A book-length version, expanded from the current pamphlet, was issued later the same year. Walls (d.2008) was an award-winning feature reporter for the Charlotte Observer through the 1960s.