The Viola Factor

BOOK: THE VIOLA FACTOR, second edition
PUBLISHED: February 2024
THE PUBLISHER: BOOKBABY

SUMMARY:
VIOLA KNAPP RUFFNER was a woman who left home early to support her family, bravely traveling alone to teaching positions in the pre-Civil War north and south. Her quest to uphold her mother’s dying wishes leads her through challenges that end in traumas and distort her hopes for contentment and happiness. After the war, she hired a young, emancipated boy, Booker T. Washington, and caught him to read and write. Over time her post-traumatic stress is appeased, societal norms challenged, and a friendship forged with Booker that spanned decades. This is her story and the factor she played in this young man’s life who became a nineteenth century leader.
Description
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“The Viola Factor” takes place at a time when the country faced division and growth after the American Civil War. Viola Knapp Ruffner struggled with what was just and fair, becoming a little-known confidant for a young black scholar from Virginia. But Viola was much more than a teacher; she was a mother, wife, game-changer, and friend. With her mother’s dying wish, a young woman alone, she left her New England roots. This is a story of trauma and love in the South while battling for justice and the rightful education of the enslaved and once enslaved. African American leader Booker T. Washington called her his friend and model for life. The journey of life is done in baby steps, tentatively stumbling, until a galloping stride is achieved. Viola Knapp wears different shoes on different days. Heavy, mud-trekking boots to allow for aggressive steps, and daintier shoes for more rhythmic and assertive ones. She was a diligent daughter, an outspoken protector, and a progressive teacher. Like many women in her situation, alone at seventeen, Viola must realize her own principles to fulfill her future goals. With every stride, Viola Knapp Ruffner marches around surprises, over potholes, and dodges folly after folly on her journey to be fulfilled. After ambling in one direction, plodding along in another, and wandering to find herself, a sudden halt pushes her forward until a factor of fate places her in the path of a newly freed slave with a desire to read and penchant to lead. After years of post-traumatic stress and mental uncoupling, she finds herself a woman who followed her mother’s dying wish to fight for what is fair and just.

THE BACK STORY:
The book is based on the research conducted by the author in order to portray her character during the reenactment of women living in Booker’s times while volunteering at Booker T. Washington National Monument in Hardy, Va.
WHY THIS TITLE:
MANY FACTORS AFFECT A PERSON’S GROWTH AND PERSPECTIVE. IN THIS CASE, WE LEARN HOW THE INFLUENCE OF ONE WOMAN, ONE TEACHER, FACTORED IN AS A PIVOTAL IMPACT ON A YOUNG MAN DRIVEN TO READ, WRITE, SPEAK AND TEACH BY THIS ONE WOMAN, VIOLA KNAPP RUFFNER.
WHY SOMEONE WOULD WANT TO READ IT:
Q: Why do we need to read The Viola Factor?
A: I hope there are more than just a few reasons readers will want to pick-up the book. There are two persuasive ones:
First: The book’s use of primary source material as a structure and source base. At the heart of this is the claim that objects reveal much: in this case tangible correspondence letters, photographs, maps, census data, and biographies can tell us about the physical worlds that people lived in, but they also can tell us about individuals, relationships, communities, beliefs, values, and institutions.

The things used and discarded by humans are legitimate sources for historical exploration. A piece of furniture, a book, a theater program, a piece of jewelry, or a dress: each is an object, as is a house or a yard. If it has been made or altered by human hands, it can be analyzed and interpreted as a piece of material culture of the times.
Second: the book’s implications for public history. Bringing to light the story between a White woman and Black man after the Emancipation of slaves, who developed a friendship around teaching and learning, calls for attention. In this case Viola rises above the traumas and horrors of her own times, as does Booker, and when they come together, both their lives are stronger and leave us a model for future difficult situations.