This book presents the true story of Eunice Hunton Carter, one of the most famous and accomplished Black women of 1940s America. Although she’s no longer a household name, the author – her grandson, the novelist Stephen Carter – provides a detailed account of her fascinating life.
Eunice Hunton’s grandfather, Stanton Hunton, purchased his freedom from slavery before the Civil War. His son, William Alphaeus Hunton Sr., migrated to Atlanta and married Addie Waites Hunton. Both William and Addie were college educated and activists with the YMCA and NAACP. They had two children, Eunice and Alphaeus, and eventually they moved their family to Brooklyn, New York. Addie Hunton, Eunice’s mother, was relentless in her work in advancement and support of the “darker nation” (term used by the author), and she was clearly a role model to Eunice for choosing to pursue a non-traditional path despite both societal expectations and the seemingly insurmountable roadblocks of gender and race. Ultimately, Eunice became one of the first female African-American lawyers and one of the first African American prosecutors in the United States.
In 1921, Eunice graduated from Smith College with a degree in social work. After a few years of work in that field, she went back to school to study law. She became the first black woman to earn a law degree from Fordham University in New York City, and then in 1935, the first black woman assistant district attorney in the state of New York. After gaining some notoriety with her legal and political work, she was one of 20 lawyers selected by special prosecutor Thomas Dewey, who was on a mission to curtail the mafia in New York and in general. Although she was initially tasked on that team with listening to what were perceived to be lower-level morality crimes of prostitution, it was through that work that she identified ongoing patterns and connections that eventually led to the conviction of mafia boss Lucky Luciano in 1936. Her professional commitment to Dewey lasted through his presidential runs of 1944 and 1948.
Although she did not seem very interested in or suited for motherhood, she and her husband, Lisle Carter Sr., had a son named Lisle Carter Jr. He was the father of the author of this book, her grandson Stephen Carter.
Carter’s work in this book is a bit of an enigma. He is a well-known best-selling author of works such as The Emperor of Ocean Park, which was one of Time Magazine’s 100 best mystery and thriller books of all time. He is also a law professor at Yale Law School. But his presentation of this material is fairly dry and reads like an academic paper or a book report at times. With all the interesting facts and storyline he had to work with in his grandmother’s life, it’s odd that he wasn’t able to identify the mundane bits and condense them so that the interesting parts would have room to be more compelling. As it is, the reader has to get through a LOT of back-story about the lives of William and Addie – especially Addie – before getting to Eunice. One of our club members described the title as a bit of a bait and switch. That being said, the book also contains interesting glimpses of professional life in Harlem, and Alphaeus’s association with the Communist Party.
We found it unusual that the author didn’t personalize the story a bit more by saying, “my grandmother” or “my father,” but always Eunice and Lisle, etc. This was especially noticeable when he talked about Eunice sending Lisle away as a child and rarely visiting, a period of time that was very painful “for Lisle.” It was unclear whether this was an attempt to stay emotionally neutral while sweeping feelings under the rug or if he really feels distant from it. In any case, he clearly does admire the work that his grandparents did, even if their paths did not allow time for warm family bonds.
Overall, our group was glad that we read this book and became aware of the life and work of Eunice Hunton Carter. Her story is an inspiration and very deserving of documentation.
— Julie Feirer & Bill Smith
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