Demaratus, DeEtta 1941-

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DEMARATUS, DeEtta 1941-

PERSONAL:

Born 1941, in AZ; children: one daughter. Education: Attended University of Washington, and Columbia University; earned M.F.A. (Florence, Italy).

ADDRESSES:

Agent—c/o Author Mail, University of Utah Press, 1795 East South Campus Dr., No. 101, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9402.

CAREER:

Author. Worked in administrative positions for Group Health, Harborview Hospital, and KUOW radio, Seattle, WA.

WRITINGS:

The Force of a Feather: The Search for a Lost Story of Slavery and Freedom, University of Utah Press (Salt Lake City, UT), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS:

DeEtta Demaratus wrote her first book, The Force of a Feather: The Search for a Lost Story of Slavery and Freedom, after viewing a commemorative installation in honor of Biddy Mason, a black slave whose accomplishments have become local legend in parts of California. Demaratus felt a spiritual connection to this woman and to other historical figures in her book, and believes that they reached out to her and inspired her to document their history.

While living in the Seattle, Washington, area, Demaratus began her writing career, and sold a movie script to Paramount, although it was never produced. In preparation for writing The Force of a Feather, she spent years researching relevant people and topics, her investigation leading back to 1848. That year Robert Smith converted to Mormonism and, with his wife, moved from Mississippi to Utah. Smith and his family took with them their slaves: Biddy Mason, Biddy's three daughters, Hannah, and Hannah's eight children and grandchild. Three years later, the Smiths joined a Mormon community in California, where slavery was illegal. In 1856, after Smith had conflicts with the California church, he and his family decided to move again, this time to Texas, where slavery was legal.

A year before the Dred Scott case, a writ of habeas corpus was sought by a group of free blacks to prevent Smith from taking the women and their children out of California. The judge who heard the case was Benjamin Hayes, a former southerner. Because blacks were not allowed to testify against whites, Hayes interviewed the women in chambers. Hannah said she wanted to go with the Smiths, but Hayes, sensing that these were not her true feelings, asked a sheriff to talk to her away from court. She admitted that she had promised Mrs. Smith that she would tell the judge she wished to remain with them. A group of white men—among them Smith's sons—planned to kidnap the former slaves and take them to Texas, but Hayes issued a protective order that required that Biddy, Hannah, and their families, remain in California.

After being given her freedom, Biddy Mason became involved in Los Angeles real estate and eventually became one of the wealthiest black women in the country. She founded the first black church in Los Angeles and gave generously to charities. Martin Naparsteck noted in the Salt Lake Tribune Online that although many articles and at least one book have been written about Mason, "Hanna and Hayes are far less familiar to history. Demaratus provides a service to anyone seeking a fuller picture of slavery's history in the West."

In addition to being the story of a fascinating moment in history, The Force of a Feather is also a memoir of Demaratus's personal experiences while researching and writing the book, including her emotions about being white, sparked by memories reaching back to her roots in white Southern culture. Women's Review of Books contributor Jean Humez felt that the author "makes the self-discovery story much the more fascinating of the two narratives. In these chapters, she highlights as a series of epiphanies several emotional encounters (both real and imagined) with African Americans.…The stories about race-related anxiety are among the most intensely realized scenes in the book."