{"product_id":"in-flaming-letters-verner-d-mitchell-9780813954059","title":"In Flaming Letters: Lucia Pitts, Poet of the Six Triple Eight","description":"\u003cb\u003eA treasury of poetry and prose from an unsung trailblazer of Black literature\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Lucia M. Pitts (1904-1973) was an African American writer and Army veteran whose story has never been told. Her poetry, including love lyrics of striking sensuality and honesty, was admired by Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Dorothy West. Her work first appeared during the Harlem Renaissance, influenced by Harriet Monroe's \u003ci\u003ePoetry\u003c\/i\u003e magazine and blues singers Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. A native of Chicago's Bronzeville, Pitts challenged discrimination and segregation throughout her remarkable life, both as a member of President Franklin Roosevelt's \"Black Cabinet\" and as the first African American woman employed at the War Department. Then, in 1943, Pitts joined the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the Army's only all-Black, all-female battalion, which later received the Congressional Gold Medal. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Pitts's own account of her service with the Six Triple Eight, however, has remained unpublished until now. This volume brings together a biography of Pitts, her complete military memoir, and one hundred of her finest poems.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Verner D. Mitchell, Lucia Pitts\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0813954053\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780813954059\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Virginia Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/18\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 180\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover","brand":"Verner D. Mitchell","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":46974510661887,"sku":"9780813954059","price":90.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_8739d998-62fb-4b84-9d6a-e74c7127b23f.jpg?v=1750875246","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/in-flaming-letters-verner-d-mitchell-9780813954059","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}