For the first time, the true story of "The Yellow Rose of Texas" is told in full, revealing a host of new insights and perspectives on one of America's most popular stories. For generations, the Yellow Rose of Texas has been one of America's most popular western myths, growing larger over time and little resembling the truth of what happened on April 21, 1836, at the battle of San Jacinto, where a new Texas Republic won its independence. The woman who has been popularly connected to the story was an ordinary but also quite remarkable free black woman from the North, Emily D. West. This work reconstructs her experience, places it in full context and explores the evolution of a most fanciful myth.

A journalist searches for the truth behind the traditional folk song, and a free black woman’s role in the Texas Revolution. The legend of the Yellow Rose of Texas holds an indisputable place in Lone Star culture, tethered to a familiar song that has served as a Civil War marching tune, a pop chart staple, and a halftime anthem. Almost two centuries of Texas mythmaking successfully muddled fact with fable in song, and the true story of Emily D. West remains mired in dispute and unrecognizable beneath the tales that grew up around it. The complete truth may never be recovered, but in this book Lora-Marie Bernard seeks an honest account honoring the grit and determination that brought a free black woman from the abolitionist riots of Connecticut to the thick of a bloody Texas revolution. A Lone Star native who grew up immersed in the Yellow Rose legend, Bernard also traces other stories that legend has obscured, including the connection between Emily D. West and plans for a free black colony in Texas. Includes illustrations

Yellow Rose of Texas: The Myth of Emily Morgan tells the fact based story of the African-American woman who inspired the world famous folk song. In this graphic novel the adventures of Emily Morgan reveal the Texas war for independence through the eyes of a black woman who survived the Alamo and played an important part in winning the war. While the story of Texas is told with attention to historical detail, the story of Emily is elevated to a romantic myth.

The legend of the Yellow Rose of Texas holds an indisputable place in Lone Star culture, tethered to a familiar song that has served as a Civil War marching tune, a pop chart staple and a halftime anthem. The true story of Emily D. West remains mired in dispute and unrecognizable beneath the manipulative tales that grew up around it. Author Lora-Marie Bernard seeks an honest account honoring the grit and determination that brought a free black woman from the abolitionst riots of Connecticut to the thick of a bloody Texas revolution.

For years, historians have talked about two women connected to the Yellow Rose of Texas legend: Emily West, the beautiful mulatto servant who allegedly distracted Mexican general Santa Anna to help win the Texas Revolution; and Emily West de Zavala, the rich white woman who employed her.But were there really two like-named women, one white and one black, so close to the San Jacinto battlefield in April 1836?Making Myth of Emily takes an unorthodox look behind this enduring legend and details how the Yellow Rose of Texas myth resulted from determined efforts to hide the racial identity of Emily West de Zavala. In compelling detail, Myth shows that Emily, the wife of Texas ? interim vice-president, was beautiful, cultured, well-traveled, wealthy?and black.Emily?s story, painstakingly recreated from thousands of historical documents and family records, reveals the need for more diverse interpretations of Texas? vast anecdotal past.

This book is like a time capsule of black women's history.

This ambitious book, originally published by Rice University Press in 1991, describes Houston home life and culture from the settlement of Houston to World War I, when rapid economic development spelled demolition for many notable nineteenth-century public buildings.

"Set during the mid 1830's, this is the saga of a serving girl who lived and loved amidst the turmoil of the Texas Revolution. Little is known of the beautiful mulatto, Emily D. West and her mysterious lover, but their story lives on in the romantic ballad, The Yellow Rose of Texas -- a poignant folk song that flourishes today"--Back cover