Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years

Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years is a 1993 New York Times bestselling book that was compiled by Amy Hill Hearth and contains the oral history of Sarah "Sadie" L. Delany and A. Elizabeth "Bessie" Delany, two civil rights pioneers who were born in the late 19th century to a former slave. Their stories were largely unknown until The New York Times reporter Amy Hill Hearth interviewed them for a feature story in 1991, and the popular story was expanded into book form. Published by Kodansha America in New York in September 1993, the book was on the New York Times bestseller lists for 105 weeks. In all editions combined, the book has sold more than five million copies, according to Hearth. The book went on to inspire a Broadway play in 1995 and a CBS television film in 1999. The book has been translated into six languages. In 1995, the book was recognized as one of the "Best Books of 1994" by the American Library Association. The book was also presented with the Christopher Award for Literature and an American Booksellers Book of the Year (ABBY) Honor Award.