Read Online Girl in Black and White The Story of Mary Mildred Williams and the Abolition Movement Jessie MorganOwens 9780393609240 Books
Download As PDF : Girl in Black and White The Story of Mary Mildred Williams and the Abolition Movement Jessie MorganOwens 9780393609240 Books
The riveting, little-known story of Mary Mildred Williams―a slave girl who looked “whiteâ€â€•whose photograph transformed the abolitionist movement.
When a decades-long court battle resulted in her family’s freedom in 1855, seven-year-old Mary Mildred Williams unexpectedly became the face of American slavery. Famous abolitionists Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Henry David Thoreau, and John Albion Andrew would help Mary and her family in freedom, but Senator Charles Sumner saw a monumental political opportunity. Due to generations of sexual violence, Mary’s skin was so light that she “passed†as white, and this fact would make her the key to his white audience’s sympathy. During his sold-out abolitionist lecture series, Sumner paraded Mary in front of rapt audiences as evidence that slavery was not bounded by race.
Weaving together long-overlooked primary sources and arresting images, including the daguerreotype that turned Mary into the poster child of a movement, Jessie Morgan-Owens investigates tangled generations of sexual enslavement and the fraught politics that led Mary to Sumner. She follows Mary’s story through the lives of her determined mother and grandmother to her own adulthood, parallel to the story of the antislavery movement and the eventual signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Girl in Black and White restores Mary to her rightful place in history and uncovers a dramatic narrative of travels along the Underground Railroad, relationships tested by oppression, and the struggles of life after emancipation. The result is an exposé of the thorny racial politics of the abolitionist movement and the pervasive colorism that dictated where white sympathy lay―one that sheds light on a shameful legacy that still affects us profoundly today.
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"This book is very similar to two other recently released books, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight, and Code Name: Lise: the True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII's Most Highly Decorated Spy by Larry Loftis. All of them are extensively researched and, therefore, do not read as smoothly as a novel. However, if read slowly and intentionally, they provide provide fascinating information.
In the cases of Frederick Douglass and The Girl in Black in White, it is uncanny that biased people (to put it kindly) from the nineteenth century have their counterparts in the twenty-first century. I was glad to have read the Douglass biography before The Girl in Black and White because it enabled me to better understand the quotes and references to him.
Initially, I was drawn to this book because my great-grandfather, another Virginian, passed for white. When I first discovered the Mu, for mulatto, on my family's page in the 1880 census, after my surprise, my second reaction was outrage at how much non-consensual sex this represented. Jessie Morgan-Owens does a thorough job of putting faces and names to those kinds of victims (and perpetrators) in the family of Mary Mildred Williams.
She also does a good job of revealing the subtle and not-so-subtle attitudes of racism and classism, not just among slave owners including those who exploited their own children, but also among the abolitionists who weren't quite as noble as they appeared. Among Jessie Morgan-Owens' extensive research are references including those two n-words that we now consider inappropriate: the ones which rhyme with diggers and happy.
I'm sure I'm not alone as a white American who wants to hold my hands over my ears and chant, "La La La," to avoid learning painful details about the immeasurable human rights violations that took place in my own country. However, because the attitudes of so many people have not changed over the centuries (for-crying-out-loud), the playing field is still not level, and violations are occurring on a regular and sadly, institutional basis. I admire the decision of Jessie Morgan-Owens to devote 25% of her book's proceeds to "organizations that serve communities of color, and those that work toward liberation in our present moment." I hope she makes a difference through both the information in this book, and her charity.
So, I recommend this very well-researched book not only as an interesting story, but as insight into nineteenth century attitudes that are still alive today."
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Tags : Girl in Black and White The Story of Mary Mildred Williams and the Abolition Movement [Jessie Morgan-Owens] on . <strong>The riveting, little-known story of Mary Mildred Williams―a slave girl who looked “whiteâ€â€•whose photograph transformed the abolitionist movement.</strong> When a decades-long court battle resulted in her family’s freedom in 1855,Jessie Morgan-Owens,Girl in Black and White The Story of Mary Mildred Williams and the Abolition Movement,W. W. Norton Company,0393609243,Antislavery movements - United States - History - 19th century,Child slaves - United States,Child slaves;United States;Biography.,Colorism - United States,Photographs - Political aspects - United States - History - 19th century,Photographs;Political aspects;United States;History;19th century.,Racism - United States - History - 19th century,Slaves - United States,Slaves;United States;Biography.,United States - Race relations - History - 19th century,Williams, Mary Mildred,Williams, Mary Mildred - Family,Biography,GENERAL,General Adult,HISTORY / African American,HISTORY / United States / 19th Century,HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY,History/African American,History/American,Non-Fiction,PHOTOGRAPHY / History,Photography/History,Social Science/Slavery,U.S. HISTORY - SLAVERY QUESTION AND ABOLITIONISM,United States,abolitionist; african american; america; charles sumner; color; daguerreotype; jesse owens; nineteenth century; photography; race; skin; slavery; solomon northup; united states; us; biography; emancipation; john albion andrew; racial politics; thomas wentworth higginson; underground railroad; visual culture,abolitionist;african american;america;biography;charles sumner;color;daguerreotype;emancipation;jesse owens;john albion andrew;nineteenth century;photography;race;racial politics;skin;slavery;solomon northup;thomas wentworth higginson;underground railroad;united states;us;visual culture,HISTORY / African American,HISTORY / United States / 19th Century,History/African American,PHOTOGRAPHY / History,Photography/History,Social Science/Slavery
Girl in Black and White The Story of Mary Mildred Williams and the Abolition Movement Jessie MorganOwens 9780393609240 Books Reviews :
Girl in Black and White The Story of Mary Mildred Williams and the Abolition Movement Jessie MorganOwens 9780393609240 Books Reviews
- Fantastic read. Morgan-Owens’ writing is superb and rich- at moments you feel as though you are back in tim, a fly on the wall, encountering history as it happens- while others feel as though you are sitting at a table, having a fascinating conversation with a scholar on the subject. This book is a must read for any person who is interested in photography and sociology, and general art theory. It has the authority of great research but is not dull or humdrum in it’s manner of presentation- a book that can be enjoyed by both academics and laymen. It digs into media presentation and how viewers digest what is presented, and how minor manipulations of what we see can entirely change how we decide on important issues- that can be matters of great consequence. By that token, this is a must read for anyone who is intrigued by advertising and media, and the ideology behind propaganda. Also! A must read for anyone who is interested in the abolitionist movement and the antebellum approach, consideration, and treatment of enslaved African Americans.
- This book is very similar to two other recently released books, Frederick Douglass Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight, and Code Name Lise the True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII's Most Highly Decorated Spy by Larry Loftis. All of them are extensively researched and, therefore, do not read as smoothly as a novel. However, if read slowly and intentionally, they provide provide fascinating information.
In the cases of Frederick Douglass and The Girl in Black in White, it is uncanny that biased people (to put it kindly) from the nineteenth century have their counterparts in the twenty-first century. I was glad to have read the Douglass biography before The Girl in Black and White because it enabled me to better understand the quotes and references to him.
Initially, I was drawn to this book because my great-grandfather, another Virginian, passed for white. When I first discovered the Mu, for mulatto, on my family's page in the 1880 census, after my surprise, my second reaction was outrage at how much non-consensual sex this represented. Jessie Morgan-Owens does a thorough job of putting faces and names to those kinds of victims (and perpetrators) in the family of Mary Mildred Williams.
She also does a good job of revealing the subtle and not-so-subtle attitudes of racism and classism, not just among slave owners including those who exploited their own children, but also among the abolitionists who weren't quite as noble as they appeared. Among Jessie Morgan-Owens' extensive research are references including those two n-words that we now consider inappropriate the ones which rhyme with diggers and happy.
I'm sure I'm not alone as a white American who wants to hold my hands over my ears and chant, "La La La," to avoid learning painful details about the immeasurable human rights violations that took place in my own country. However, because the attitudes of so many people have not changed over the centuries (for-crying-out-loud), the playing field is still not level, and violations are occurring on a regular and sadly, institutional basis. I admire the decision of Jessie Morgan-Owens to devote 25% of her book's proceeds to "organizations that serve communities of color, and those that work toward liberation in our present moment." I hope she makes a difference through both the information in this book, and her charity.
So, I recommend this very well-researched book not only as an interesting story, but as insight into nineteenth century attitudes that are still alive today. - The publisher, W.W. Norton, and Jessie Morgan-Owens deserve our gratitude for creating a fine and engaging historical work. The author took up this story seven years ago and relentlessly pursued archival records to find the narrative behind the 19th-century photograph (taken in 1852) of Mary Mildred Williams, a 7-year-old "white slave" girl whose freedom and that of her family was secured by none other than Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner and Governor John Andrew. Her story and that of her grandparents and family are meticulously reconstructed and reveal the nightmares and outrages of slavery as well as the inherent and unconscious prejudices of well-meaning white abolitionists. "Photography compels narrative. Since these characters were once human and deserving of dignity,... they deserved to have their stories told accurately." Morgan-Owens has done that brilliantly. I urge you to read this invaluable book, and if you do, the Epilogue is a must. Very highly recommended and deserving of a lot more publicity than it has received.
- Fascinating read. Eye-opening to facets of our history that are not commonly discussed and consequently not remembered. I appreciate the research and the time that Ms. Morgan-Owens gave to this project.
