Ellouise Smith

The Emancipators Ellouise Smith

After a tragic boating accident kills the owners of a plantation in thepost?Civil War South, their four-year-old daughter, Ellen, is leftorphaned. At the reading of the will, black couple Will and Hannah,whose family has lived and worked on the Mitchell plantation forgenerations, are shocked to learn they have inherited the land and thetrusted charge of raising Ellen. Will and Hannah are humbled by thetrust the Mitchells had in them, but terrified of the future without theirguidance. Despite protests from white landowners, Will and Hannah raise Ellen toadulthood along with their own daughter, Bea. The two young girls growup without noticing the difference in the color of their skin. They are likesisters-sharing dolls, making mud pies, and picking cotton with thefield hands. The girls' differences become more apparent as they reach maturityand their friendship is tested. But Ellen and Bea cling to thestrength of Will and Hannah to see them through the trials andtribulations, eventually finding their own happiness through love,marriage, and family.