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Writing African American Women: An Encyclopedia of Literature by and about Women of Color, Volumes 1 and 2
Edited by Elizabeth Ann Beaulieu
Greenwood Press
WRITING AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN
WRITING AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN
G
An Encyclopedia of Literature by and about Women of Color Volume 1: A–J
Edited by Elizabeth Ann Beaulieu
GREENWOOD PRESS Westport, Connecticut
London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Writing African American women : an encyclopedia of literature by and about women of color / edited by Elizabeth Ann Beaulieu. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–313–33196–0 (set : alk. paper)—ISBN 0–313–33197–9 (v. 1 : alk. paper)— ISBN 0–313–33198–7 (v. 2 : alk. paper) 1. American literature—African American authors—Encyclopedias. 2. Authors, American—20th century—Biography— Encyclopedias. 3. African American women in literature—Encyclopedias. 4. Women and literature—United States—Encyclopedias. I. Beaulieu, Elizabeth Ann. PS153.N5W756 2006 810.9'928796073—dc22 2005031487 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright # 2006 by Elizabeth Ann Beaulieu All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. This book is included in the African American Experience database from Greenwood Electronic Media. For more information, visit www.africanamericanexperience.com. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2005031487 ISBN 0–313–33196–0 (set) 0–313–33197–9 (vol. 1) 0–313–33198–7 (vol. 2) First published in 2006 Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.greenwood.com Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This work is for Lee Burdette Williams—friend of the second half, sister of my heart’s heart, my poem.
G Contents Preface ix Acknowledgments
xiii
List of Entries xv Thematic List of Entries
xxi
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA 1 Timeline 955 Selected Bibliography 959 Index 963 About the Editor and Contributors
977
G Preface My introduction to African American literature came when, as a high school student, I was assigned Frederick Douglass’s 1845 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Knowing little about slavery other than what conventional history texts presented, I looked forward to reading the firsthand account of a famous American, intuiting even then the importance of personal stories in supplementing the historical record. At the time, I did not know the word patriarchy, but I was astute enough to recognize the truth in the cliche´ that history has always been written by the winners, and the winners were almost always white, male, and educated. What I remember most about reading Douglass’s Narrative is being captivated not so much by his story as by the anecdote of Aunt Hester with which he concludes his first chapter. Douglass identifies the beating of his aunt as crucial in his awareness of his own position as a slave, calling the episode ‘‘the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery’’ through which he is reluctantly and violently ushered. Douglass never mentions Aunt Hester again, and I finished reading the text wondering about her fate and the fate of countless other enslaved black women like her. Who told their stories? How were their stories different? How incomplete would our understanding of American history remain if we were not afforded the opportunity to place their lives and their stories side by side with Douglass’s Narrative and other tales of heroic Ame