Leon Walter Tillage - World Literary Awards

Profile

Gender: Male
Born: 1936-01-19 （small-town North Carolina, United States）
Died: 2011-10-05 age 75
Nationality: United States
Languages: English
Residence History: North Carolina (birthplace) → Baltimore, Maryland (worked at Park School)

Career

Occupations: Children's writer, Custodian
Active Years: 1967-2011

Awards

Year	Award	Work	Category	Organization	Result
1998	Carter G. Woodson Book Award	Leon's Story	—	National Council for the Social Studies	受賞

Carter G. Woodson Book Award

1998

Work: Leon's Story

Organization: National Council for the Social Studies

Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Carter G. Woodson Book Award 2 appearances

Edition 25 (1998) Winner
Edition 85 (1998, held 2 times in year) Winner

Works

Major Works

Leon's Story

1997 Children's literature / Autobiographical oral history

An oral-history children's book based on Tillage's experiences, depicting life under Jim Crow laws in the 1940s and the later impact of the Civil Rights Movement. It recounts his father's death, the family's financial struggles, and the realities of racial segregation in the American South in a voice accessible to young readers.

Racial discriminationFamilyPoverty and laborCivil rights

Bibliography

Leon's Story (1997)

Style & Themes

Literary Style: Oral-history, plain and direct narrationAutobiographical account adapted for children
Recurring Motifs: Discrimination and resistanceChildhood perspectiveFamily resilience

Legacy

Through his autobiographical account for children, Tillage introduced young readers to the realities of the Jim Crow era and the significance of the Civil Rights Movement. Leon's Story has been used in educational settings and won the Carter G. Woodson Book Award in 1998.

Trivia

His father was run over by a car and died, which contributed to his family's financial hardship—an experience reflected in Leon's Story.
He worked as a custodian at the Park School of Baltimore for more than 30 years beginning in 1967.