Grace Halsell Explained

Grace Halsell (May 7, 1923 – August 16, 2000) was an American journalist and writer.^[1]

Early life and education

The daughter of writer Harry H. Halsell, she studied at Texas Tech University from 1939 to 1942.^[2] During the 1940s, she was briefly married to Andy Fournier, the chief of detectives in the Fort Worth Police Department.

Career

Halsell worked for several newspapers between 1942 and 1965, including the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and the Washington bureau of the Houston Post. She covered both the Korean and Vietnam Wars as a reporter, and was a White House speech writer for President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1965 to 1968.

She wrote 10 books, several of which involved her "passing" as a member of a racial or ethnic minority. For Soul Sister^[3] (1969), she used vitiligo-corrective medication to darken her skin and live as an African American for several months.^{[4] [5]} In 1973, she published Bessie Yellowhair, in which she tried to pass as a member of the Navajo.^[6] For 1978's The Illegals, she disguised herself as a Mexican immigrant.^[7]

Death

In 2000, she died in Washington, D.C. of complications from treatment for multiple myeloma.^[8] She bequeathed her papers to the Mary Couts Burnett Library at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. Some of her work is housed at Boston University's Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center.^[9]

Books

• Book: Halsell, Grace. Soul Sister: The Journal of a White Woman Who Turned Herself Black and Went to Live and Work in Harlem and Mississippi. 1969. New York. The World Publishing Company. 730258394. ^[10]
• Book: Evers, Charles. Charles Evers. Introduction by Grace Halsell. Evers: A Biography of Charles Evers. 1971. 909098159. New York. The World Publishing Company.
• Book: Grace. Halsell. Winthrop D.. Jordan. Black/White Sex. 1972. New York. Morrow. 360442.
• Book: Halsell, Grace. Bessie Yellowhair. registration. 1973. New York. Morrow. 978-0-688-00200-8.
• Book: Halsell, Grace. Los Viejos: Secrets of Long Life from the Sacred Valley. registration. 1976. 978-0-87857-135-2. Emmaus, PA. Rodale Press.
• Book: Halsell, Grace. The Illegals. registration. 1978. New York. Stein and Day. 978-0-8128-2464-3.
• Book: Halsell, Grace. Journey to Jerusalem. registration. 1981. 978-0-02-085360-2. New York. Macmillan.
• Book: Halsell, Grace. Prophecy and Politics: The Secret Alliance Between Israel and the U.S. Christian Right. Chicago. Lawrence Hill Books. 1986. 978-0-88208-210-3.
• Book: Halsell, Grace. In Their Shoes: A White Woman's Journey Living as a Black, Navajo, and Mexican Illegal. 1996. 978-0-87565-170-5. Fort Worth, Texas. Texas Christian University Press.
• Book: Halsell, Grace. Forcing God's Hand: Why Millions Pray for a Quick Rapture—and Destruction of Planet Earth. 1999. 978-0-9674013-1-7. Beltsville, MD. International Graphics.
  • Revised and enlarged edition 2003 included transcript of CBS 60 Minutes episode broadcast October 6, 2002 "Zion's Christian soldiers; how conservative Christians see Israel's role in bringing on the Second Coming of Christ."

External links

• Excerpt from Prophecy and Politics

Notes and References

1. News: New York Times. September 2, 2000. Grace Halsell, 77, Journalist Who Sought Truth in Disguise.
2. Texas Tech University. 1942. La Ventana. 017. en. 2346/48651.
3. News: A White Woman in a 'Black' Skin. Dorothy. Gilliam. Dorothy Butler Gilliam. Nov 4, 1969. The Washington Post. B4. I am instantly repulsed by the audacity of Miss Halsell, after a few months of a half-masquerade ... to call herself 'soul sister.' This is not only an affront, it is foolish..
4. News: Grace Halsell, 77, Journalist Who Sought Truth in Disguise . 17 June 2024 . The New York Times . 2 September 2000.
5. Book: Halsell . Grace . Soul Sister . 1969 . 17 June 2024.
6. Book: Halsell . Grace cn . Bessie Yellowhair . 1973 . New York, Morrow . 978-0-688-00200-8 . 17 June 2024.
7. Book: Halsell . Grace . The Illegals . 1978 . New York : Stein and Day . 978-0-8128-2464-3 . 17 June 2024.
8. News: The Washington Post. August 18, 2000. Grace Halsell; Wrote 'Soul Sister'. Adam. Bernstein. B7.
9. http://www.bu.edu/archives/holdings/contemporary/fgh.html Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center
10. Web site: New York University, Undercover reporting database . March 24, 2016 . April 7, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160407105033/http://dlib.nyu.edu/undercover/grace-halsell . dead .