Gerald Stokes

A White Hat in Argo: Family Secrets Gerald Stokes

A White Hat in Argo describes the survival of a close-knit Negro family, led by three sisters, during the summer of 1951. Lil Man, an 8-year old, was enthralled by the rich lifestyles of his hard working relatives who lived in the small town outside Chicago, named Argo. The Negro section of Argo became an oasis for Blacks who earned a good wage working in the huge corn processing factory that dominated the town. Men worked hard and played hard in the bars and taverns that lined the Horseshoe Bend, where cheap drinks, fast women, honky-tonk music and cut throat gambling spiced up the nights. Rooster, Captain, Oliver, and Wallace survived that harsh life in different memorable ways.

Author Gerald V. Stokes, through eyes of Lil Man, examines the mystery of why the three Shelman sisters, part of the Black Migration of the 1920's, left Troy, Alabama, and took root in Argo, Illinois. Negro life in Argo was vibrant and care-free, yet intensely dangerous during that era. It was also a time where community closeness insured survival, but everyone held deeper secrets they dare not reveal. The secrets held by the three sisters were the most profound of all.