African American Studies Commons^™

Aa Ms 29 African American Oral History Collection, Jill Piekut Roy, Lex Lecrone

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Description

The Center for the Study of Lives was established in 1988 by Robert Atkinson, professor emeritus of human development, multicultural studies, and religious studies at University of Southern Maine. Collection includes recordings and documents related to oral histories conducted by Jill Cournoyer and other students of Joseph Conforti. Interviewees are Eugene Cummings, Rev. Margaret Lawson, Ronald S. Lynch, Leola Marshall, Dana Richardson, and Gerald E. Talbot. Also includes a speech by Eugene Jackson. Interviewees speak about their lives and histories as African Americans in the United States, particularly in Portland, Maine.

Date Range:

1985-1996

Size of Collection:

0.25 Linear …

Ella P. Stewart And The Benefits Of Owning A Neighborhood Pharmacy, Randall K. Johnson

Faculty Works

This Essay is the first to explain how and why Ella P. Stewart, who was among the first Black women to earn a doctoral degree in Pharmacy, used her status as a small business owner to protect the limited set of legal rights that were available to African-Americans in the twentieth century. It also describes how Stewart’s early personal and professional experiences informed her subsequent public service career. Additionally, this Essay highlights the various ways that Stewart expanded the real freedoms that Black Americans enjoyed by guaranteeing they received a fair share of public goods or services. It concludes by …

Myths, Museums, Mothers, And The Power Of Letitia Carson, Hailey Brink

University Honors Theses

Letitia Carson was a trailblazing Black Oregon pioneer woman whose life offered remarkable and unprecedented departures from the white pioneer status quo. Letitia's story presents numerous points at which she could be heralded for her successes; her pregnant journey across the Overland Trail, giving birth in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, cultivating and maintaining two separate homesteads, challenging and conquering two lawsuits against administrator Greenberry Smith, her midwifery and community involvement, and lastly, becoming the first Black woman to own land in Oregon in 1862. And yet, her story fell to obscurity, only to be revived nearly a century …

The Gilded Tropics: Winslow Homer And John Singer Sargent In Florida, 1886-1917, Theodore W. Barrow

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the Floridian works of Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent in the context of tourism, race, and the environment as perceptions of the tropics in an Anglo-American context. Both artists sojourned in Florida and produced a number of watercolors and related oils that not only testify to a rapidly-expanding tourist industry to the Sunshine State, but also update the Romantic myths of the tropics with a more sober, ironic Realist take. While Homer and Sargent continue to be popular subjects for studies and exhibitions on their own, this dissertation is the first to consider how their shared …

Does Political Advertising Persuade? A Quantitative Assessment Of The Effects Of Campaign Contact In The Context Of Race, Ethnicity, And Immigrant Origin In New York City Council Primary Elections From 2001 Through 2017, Laura M. Tamman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Through a quantitative analysis of the relationship between New York city council campaigns’ spending and election results between 2001 and 2017, controlling for key factors such as incumbency, I find substantial and statistically significant positive effects for radio advertising on election outcomes. I find small but significant effects for mail, and smaller sized effects for canvassing. My findings underscore the need for further study of the role of ethnic and community media outlets, such as radio, in shaping voter behavior. Moreover, I argue that the fixation of the current persuasion literature on television ads in presidential general elections misses critical …

Diggin’ In The Racial Literacy And Culturally Responsive And Sustaining Crates, Jordan Bell

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Racial Literacy first became scholarship in 2004 with Lani Guinier and France Winddance Twine’s racial literacy works. Likewise, Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Education’s seminal work is associated with Gloria Ladson-Billings’ (1995) introduction of culturally relevant pedagogy. While racial literacy and culturally responsive and sustaining education scholarship appeared around the late 20th and early 21st centuries, these frameworks were being developed in Black educational spaces since their inception in the United States. These frameworks were created in response to rampant antiblackness throughout various periods of United States history. In recognition of pre-21st century Black educators’ contributions to racial literacy and culturally …

Emancipatory And Retributive Labor: Conflicting Representations Of Enslaved Labor In Us And Caribbean Literature, 1830–1855, Michael Druffel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Emancipatory and Retributive Labor follows the development of a concept that I call emancipatory labor as it appeared in the US and Caribbean during the period 1830 to 1855. Emancipatory labor is a subversive tactic in which enslaved people in the United States and Caribbean redefined a portion of their labor in capitalist terms. Re-theorizing a portion of enslaved labor stakes a claim to agency and humanity according to Western, humanistic logic. Examples of the types of labor being redefined include selling commodities, hiring time, and working “extras” for wages. I use enslaved person Lunsford Lane’s 1842 narrative as a …

Reinvest In Us: Reimagine The Role Of Police In The U.S., Jamil Davis

College Honors Program

In America, we must question and understand what is “law and order.” Over centuries, America developed a racialized slave-class politically and socially through power and force. Police are the foot soldiers of maintaining law and order as Slave Patrols evolved into the State Police. In my thesis, I discuss how their efforts in traffic enforcement enable a dominant class to target and enslave the oppressed class. Traffic control leads to 18 million interactions a year which is 34 people a minute. The numbers of interactions along with persistent practices regarding discrimination cause police to be a social liability. When bad …

'I Don’T Fit That Stereotype': Participant Photography And The Visual (Re)Positioning Of Black Men, Quaylan Allen

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This paper examines how Black men use a participant photography project as a tool for meaning making during the current political and social context of anti-Black racism, Black activism, and intersectional politics. Using a critical visual methodology in the analysis of the images, this paper will examine how Black men make meaning of current social issues through the types of images they produced, how they make meaning of the types of audiences they are speaking to through the project, and how these meanings are reflected through their repositioning practices in the visual project. Specific attention is paid to how they …

Reproduction: The Ultimate Enemy Of Racial Passing In Harlem Renaissance Literature, Veronica Kordmany

Student Theses

"In this essay, I examine three texts that consider the repercussions of passing for Black Americans. Nella Larsen’s Passing (1929) serves as a namesake for this general idea, as two light-skinned African American women represent the divisionary approach to racial passing. In George S. Schuyler’s Black No More (1931) we see a passing Black man’s virility being tested as he enters an ‘alternate universe’, in which a scientific invention grants him full access to the wondrous white world he’d always dreamed of entering. Finally, in the middle of this textual spectrum is Angelina W. Grimké’s 1919 short story, “The Closing …

Woman Flytrap, Brianna Jo Hobson

Student Theses and Dissertations

Woman FlyTrap is a short story zine collection that explores the topic of sexual violence through the perpetrator and victim relationship with an explicit lens. Replete with cultural and entomological themes and motifs, Woman Flytrap seeks to remind survivors that we are not alone. In our bodies or in our lives. Neither in the world. There are over a million insects to every human, proving that there is strength in numbers. All five stories in the collection present different abstracts: revenge, transformation, justice, healing, body image, self-harm, mourning, etc. There is also a playlist and a section about the author. …

Dance/Movement Therapy Used As An Intervention To Heal Racial Trauma Within The Black Community: A Literature Review, Jennifer Noboise

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The history of dance within the black community has served an important role while living through a racist and discriminatory society. Dance has been used to express anger, grief, and joy during hardships and moments of rejoicing from the black experience. African American people have endured years of trauma and abuse from oppressive systems. Research has been conducted to demonstrate that dance/movement therapy has been effective in treating those who have experienced a form of trauma since the trauma is stored in the body. Examining trauma symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and substance use, the research found these symptoms diminished …

Green, Robert - Inventory And Appraisment Of The Personal Property Of The Late Robert Green, Deceased, Chancery Court Of Adams County

Historic Natchez Foundation

Inventory of the personal property of the late Robert Green, deceased, appraised by Robert Moore, John B. Taylor and Adam Bingamon 28th April 1812. 1 Negro Boy $400 1 Negro woman + child $450 2 Horses $70 1 Table $4 1 Bedstead $4 [total] $928 Due the estate 310.74 [final total] 1238.74

Green, Robert - Estate Administration Record, Louis Bingamon For Robert Green, Deceased, Chancery Court Of Adams County

Historic Natchez Foundation

Account of Louis Bingamon Administrator on the estate of Robert Green, deceased. Includes a reference to the delivery of one unnamed enslaved boy.

Green, Robert - Power Of Attorney Of William Green Of Henry County, Kentucky, Granted To Son Joseph Green, Chancery Court Of Adams County

Historic Natchez Foundation

Power of attorney of William Green of Henry County, Kentucky, granted to son Joseph Green, in order to transact any business in which he may be concerned in Mississippi, and in particular to obtain whatever he might be entitled to as the father of Robert Green, deceased.

Bruner, Michael - Record Of Charges For Goods And Services, Michael Bruner To James Tobin, Chancery Court Of Adams County

Historic Natchez Foundation

Record of charges for goods and services, Michael Bruner to James Tobin, 1802-1810

Green, Robert - Estate Of Robert Green, Deceased, With Louis Bingamon, Admr., Chancery Court Of Adams County

Historic Natchez Foundation

Envelope for probate records of Robert Green, deceased.

Bruner, Michael - Estate Administration Record For The Estate Of Michael Bruner, Deceased, Chancery Court Of Adams County

Historic Natchez Foundation

Record of credits and expenditures on behalf of the estate, by Ebeneezer Hpwell. Includes a reference to an enslaved woman named Beck, who is recorded as being appraised but not sold.

Bruner, Michael - Inventory And Appraisement Of The Estate Of Michael Bruner, Chancery Court Of Adams County

Historic Natchez Foundation

A true and perfect Inventory and appriasement of all the goods and chattels and personal property or estate of Michael Bruner late of Adams County deceased as shewn to us by the administrator this 18th day of May 1814. The property of the copartnership of Bruner + Swayze was appraised at the prices opposite to each article[.] [List of stock of leather, as well as cutting and tanning tools, folows.] Also this day is shewn to us by the administrators, as not of the copartnership, the Goods and Chattels and Personal Property of the Estate of Michael Bruner deceased appraised …

Bruner, Michael - Estate Administration Record For The Estate Of Michael Bruner, Deceased, Chancery Court Of Adams County

Historic Natchez Foundation

Ebenezer Hpwell and Gabriel Swayze in right of his wife as executor of the estate of Michael Bruner. Record of expenditures on behalf of the estate. Also includes a note that an enslaved woman named Beck was claimed by Mrs. Bruner the mother of the deceased by a proper bill of sale.

Bruner, Michael - Charges Assessed To White Turfin (?), Sherriff Of Adams County, Mississippi Territory, Chancery Court Of Adams County

Historic Natchez Foundation

Record of unpaid fees charged to imprisoned individuals for board at the Adams County Jail. One of the prisoners was accused of stealing an enslaved person.

Bruner, Michael - Estate Of Michael Bruner, Deceased, With Savil L. Winston Administrator, Chancery Court Of Adams County

Historic Natchez Foundation

Envelope for the probate records of Michael Bruner, deceased

Bruner, Michael - Inventory And Appraisal Of The Estate Of Michael Bruner, Deceased, Chancery Court Of Adams County

Historic Natchez Foundation

Inventory and appraisal of the estate of Michael Bruner, deceased, including an enslaved woman named Beck who is recorded as being appraised as the property of the firm of Bruner + Swayze. There is also a second note stating that Beck has been delivered by mistake on the part of Mrs. Bruner, the widow of the deceased.

Brown, Sarah - Order For The Inventory And Appraisal Of The Estate Of Sarah Brown, Chancery Court Of Adams County

Historic Natchez Foundation

Order for the inventory and appraisal of the estate of Sarah Brown, inluding one enslaved boy about eight years old named Solomon, and an enslaved woman named Lacy.

Brown, Sarah - Estate Of Sarah Brown, Deceased, With S.W. Butler + John Corn Admr., Chancery Court Of Adams County

Historic Natchez Foundation

Envelope for the probate records of Sarah Brown, deceased

Brower, William - Receipt For Medical Services, Chancery Court Of Adams County

Historic Natchez Foundation

Receipt for payment for medical services for an enslaved man named Charles, for treatment and medication for venereal disease

Brower, William - Sales Of The Personal Estate Of William Brower, Deceased, Chancery Court Of Adams County

Historic Natchez Foundation

Sales of the personal estate of William Brower, deceased, including one enslaved boy named Charles, sold to H. Gridbey, and one enslaved boy named George, sold to P. Brill.

Brower, William - The Account Of Adam Brower, Executor Of The Estate Of William Brower, Deceased, Chancery Court Of Adams County

Historic Natchez Foundation

Estate administration record for the estate of William Brower, deceased, covering expenditures of the estate

Brower, William - Estate Of William Brower, Deceased, With Adam Brower, Executor, Chancery Court Of Adams County

Historic Natchez Foundation

Envelope for the probate records of William Brower, deceased

Brower, William - Order For The Inventory And Appraisal Of The Estate Of William Brower, Deceased, Chancery Court Of Adams County

Historic Natchez Foundation

Order for the inventory and appraisal of the estate of William Brower, deceased