Remembering Sharon Leslie Morgan, Mississippi Genealogist and Memoirist

DeeDee Baldwin reflects on her friendship with the writer who spent her final years researching her family's history in Noxubee County.

Published on Mar. 5, 2026

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DeeDee Baldwin writes about her friendship with Sharon Leslie Morgan, a writer and genealogist who spent the last years of her life in Macon, Mississippi, researching her family's history and connections to the state's past. Morgan, the author of the 2013 memoir "Gather at the Table," moved to Noxubee County in 2018 to be closer to her ancestral roots and facilitate healing for future generations.

Why it matters

Sharon Leslie Morgan's life and work highlight the importance of understanding one's family history, especially for those whose ancestors were impacted by slavery. Her dedication to genealogy and her willingness to confront Mississippi's difficult past exemplify how personal connections to history can drive meaningful change.

The details

Baldwin recounts visiting Morgan's home in Macon, where the two would research historical records together. Morgan, an active member of the Noxubee County Historical Society, also ran the website and Facebook group "Our Black Ancestry," helping family historians around the world connect with their roots. In the final year of her life, Morgan published a essay titled "I Have Chosen to Die in Mississippi," reflecting on her decision to make the state her home.

  • In late 2024, Baldwin visited Morgan's home in Macon, Mississippi.
  • In 2018, Morgan moved to Noxubee County, Mississippi, to be closer to her ancestral roots.
  • In 2026, Morgan published the essay "I Have Chosen to Die in Mississippi" just a month before her death.

The players

Sharon Leslie Morgan

A writer, genealogist, and world traveler who spent the last years of her life in Macon, Mississippi, researching her family's history and connections to the state's past.

DeeDee Baldwin

A friend of Sharon Leslie Morgan who met her through the Mississippi State University Libraries' annual genealogy fair and interacted with her regularly on Facebook.

Thomas Norman DeWolf

The co-author of Sharon Leslie Morgan's 2013 memoir "Gather at the Table," which chronicled their travels as a descendant of enslaved people in Mississippi and a descendant of a wealthy American slave-trading dynasty.

Isham Stewart

An African American man who represented Noxubee County in the state Senate and House of Representatives during Reconstruction, whose records Baldwin and Morgan were researching together.

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What they’re saying

“Whenever she revealed a new tidbit, such as her job as a chef in Paris, I told her that her life should be a movie.”

— DeeDee Baldwin (Mississippi Free Press)

“She wanted to learn more about them, to connect with them, and to facilitate healing for future generations.”

— DeeDee Baldwin (Mississippi Free Press)

“She succeeded in, as she put it in her January essay, turning 'Mississippi Goddam' into 'Mississippi Hallelujah.'”

— DeeDee Baldwin (Mississippi Free Press)

The takeaway

Sharon Leslie Morgan's life and work demonstrate the power of personal connections to history, especially for those whose ancestors were impacted by slavery. Her dedication to genealogy and her willingness to confront Mississippi's difficult past exemplify how understanding one's family history can drive meaningful change and healing.