Born in the south, Carridder “Rita” Jones was raised on a small farm

near the cotton and tobacco fields of Timmonsville, South Carolina.

As a young girl, her love of reading began the day she attended the county’s three-room school house (built for children of freed slaves)

and continues to be an essential part of her life.

After high school, Carridder married and began to raise a family and travel. Her love of reading led to a major in English and Theatre Arts

at the University of Louisville where she blossomed into a historical researcher and writer.

Expanding her writing, Carridder wrote and presented plays in Kentucky at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Kentucky Center for the Arts Martin Experimental Theatre, Paducah, Kentucky Market House Theatre and the University of Louisville’s Theatre. Her plays and presentations include: The Mark of Cane, Lady of the House, The Faded Quilt, Women of Freetowns and When Did I Die Away.

Sharing her love and talent for writing, Carridder Co-founded Women Who Write, an organization for women writers started at the University

of Louisville Women’s Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

 

As a historian, Carridder has presented historical lectures in Kentucky at the Filson Historical Society, the Women’s Studies Program, University of Louisville, Jefferson County Community Schools and the Jefferson County Free Public Libraries. 

Between 2000 and 2003 Carridder received the following awards: Tennessee Williams award as the Co-Director of the NPR radio program, “Negro Hamlets of Lexington,” the Sallie Bingham Award from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, a first-place award, from Associated Press for Broadcasters Association Award for Negro Hamlets of Lexington, the Louisville Metro Journalist Award, a first-place award for Minority Women’s Affairs Reporting in Radio and the Keeper of the Chronicle Award from Actors Theatre of Louisville. Also, she has completed research and lectures for the Filson Historical Society on “Early African American Communities,” in Jefferson County Kentucky.

In 2007, Carridder received a grant from the Knight Foundation to complete her research and the placement of a historical marker in

the community of Maddoxtown, one of the Negro Hamlets in Kentucky.

The Kentucky historical highway marker was dedicated and installed

at a historical celebration in 2008.

Her play, “Voice of the Fugitive,” a true story based on the life of Henry Bibb who was a slave in Kentucky, will be presented at Actors Theatre

in 2009 as part of the Lincoln Bicentennial.  Also, in 2009 Carridder’s play, “A Real Mother Goose Tale” will be presented at Finnigan’s Festival of new plays in Louisville, Kentucky.

Recently, Carridder published her first historical-fiction, “A Backward Glance.” The book is based on firsthand accounts of growing up in the South. This is her contribution to the preservation of what once was. The book is on sale at Locust Grove Museum Store and Carmichael’s Book Stores in Louisville, Kentucky and her web site at www.ritawords.com.