Welcome!
This website is a companion to my book, Finding Aggie, about the life of Agnes Jones Fenton, a woman who forged her way out of the Jim Crow South and had “a long life and a good life,” living to 112. Here, you will find all my photos of Aggie’s life and my journey writing the book.
Bill Wright had known 108-year-old Aggie Fenton for all his 50 years— she was at the hospital when he was born. But it wasnt until a poignant August morning in 2008 that he realized there was so much more to know about this woman who was “family.”
Raised in the Deep South during the Jim Crow era, Aggie moved to Memphis at 14 on her own to live with a cousin.
Years later, she made her way to New Jersey, where she worked for Bill’s grandparents, a world away from her hometown of Holly Springs, Mississippi. He traveled around the States to discover and chronicle her remarkable story of courage, resilience, and contentment. And, in his journey to find Aggie, he discovered truths about himself and his life.
When Aggie was 111, my daughter Kaitlin and I visited her in her New Jersey home. Kaitlin captured my time with Aggie sharing stories and looking at photo albums at her kitchen table. This is the only video I have of us.