Tomlinson Hill: The Remarkable Story of Two Families Who Share the Tomlinson Name—One White, One Black

On December 15, 2001, as Chris Tomlinson sat in the sun with Afghan warlords, LaDainian Tomlinson and the San Diego Chargers were losing to the Oakland Raiders. In this fast-paced and spellbinding tale, Chris, who is white, narrates with great verve the tale of a Texas plantation owned over the years by both white families and black families—including LaDainian’s—that share the same name. Drawing deeply on family letters, scrapbooks, and historical archives, Chris traces the history of Tomlinson Hill from the mid–19th century to 2007, when the oldest Tomlinson to live on the plantation dies. In 1865, just before his death, the then-owner of the plantation, Jim, informed his slaves of their status as free men and at least two of the former slave families on the land adopted the Tomlinson name. By 1945, Albert, who was white, had divided Tomlinson Hill into lots and sold them to black families who had spent generations on the land; a descendant of one of those families, O.T., raised his family, including his son, LaDainian, there. Tomlinson not only offers an engaging and poignant look into his own past but also a riveting glimpse of the history of race relations in Texas. (July)