The African-American Experience In Nineteenth-Century Connecticut
May 13, 2014|Theresa Vara-Dannen
Theresa Vara-Dannen's "Benevolence and Bitterness" provides a fresh perspective on the experiences of African Americans in 19th Century Connecticut, a state largely ignored by historians of race in the United States. Concise and well-written, this study deftly weaves literary analysis of texts with solid archival research. The limits of white benevolence are depicted most clearly in Vara-Dannen's re-working of the Amistad case from its immediate Connecticut perspective, and in her examination of the class and gender fears that shaped violent white resistance to integrated schools.
Vivid depictions of shopkeeper William Saunders, teacher Selah Africanus, and church member William Williams show these African Americans to be exemplars of New England values of piety, respectability, and industriousness, who gave public voice to the injustices and iniquities faced by all people of color in 19th Century Connecticut.
Based on extensive original archive research, "Benevolence and Bitterness" enriches our understanding of nineteenth-century race politics in New England by examining reports on, and discussions of, African American life in the pages of Connecticut newspapers.
Using local newspapers as a viewfinder for exploring larger questions about collective memory and slavery, Vara-Dannen recovers a number of compelling stories from the archive that complicate prevailing views about Connecticut's relationship to racial oppression in the nineteenth century and beyond.
The African-American Experience in Nineteenth-Century Connecticut: Benevolence and Bitterness" examines and analyzes the African-American experience in Connecticut as it was portrayed through a selection of archival nineteenth-century writings. In this book we can hear, sometimes for the first time, the voices of African Americans and others commenting on the complicated and explosive racial issues of their time.
Features:
Voices of African-Americans and their experience with racial issues
Exploration of the current educational and economic gaps in Connecticut
The history behind one of the most segregated school systems and residential patterns in the nation
The hardships of dealing with racial issues in a small state
Theresa Vara-Dannen teaches English and American studies as adjunct faculty at the University of Connecticut and the University of Hartford.
http://www.rowman.com
February 2014 234 pages 978-0-7391-8862-0 $80 Cloth
February 2014 234 pages 978-0-7391-8863-7 $79.99 eBook.
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| A book on the history of African Americans in Connecticut. |
Theresa Vara-Dannen's "Benevolence and Bitterness" provides a fresh perspective on the experiences of African Americans in 19th Century Connecticut, a state largely ignored by historians of race in the United States. Concise and well-written, this study deftly weaves literary analysis of texts with solid archival research. The limits of white benevolence are depicted most clearly in Vara-Dannen's re-working of the Amistad case from its immediate Connecticut perspective, and in her examination of the class and gender fears that shaped violent white resistance to integrated schools.
Vivid depictions of shopkeeper William Saunders, teacher Selah Africanus, and church member William Williams show these African Americans to be exemplars of New England values of piety, respectability, and industriousness, who gave public voice to the injustices and iniquities faced by all people of color in 19th Century Connecticut.
Based on extensive original archive research, "Benevolence and Bitterness" enriches our understanding of nineteenth-century race politics in New England by examining reports on, and discussions of, African American life in the pages of Connecticut newspapers.
Using local newspapers as a viewfinder for exploring larger questions about collective memory and slavery, Vara-Dannen recovers a number of compelling stories from the archive that complicate prevailing views about Connecticut's relationship to racial oppression in the nineteenth century and beyond.
The African-American Experience in Nineteenth-Century Connecticut: Benevolence and Bitterness" examines and analyzes the African-American experience in Connecticut as it was portrayed through a selection of archival nineteenth-century writings. In this book we can hear, sometimes for the first time, the voices of African Americans and others commenting on the complicated and explosive racial issues of their time.
Features:
Voices of African-Americans and their experience with racial issues
Exploration of the current educational and economic gaps in Connecticut
The history behind one of the most segregated school systems and residential patterns in the nation
The hardships of dealing with racial issues in a small state
Theresa Vara-Dannen teaches English and American studies as adjunct faculty at the University of Connecticut and the University of Hartford.
http://www.rowman.com
February 2014 234 pages 978-0-7391-8862-0 $80 Cloth
February 2014 234 pages 978-0-7391-8863-7 $79.99 eBook.
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