Philadelphia Stories: America's Literature Of Race And Freedom

Philadelphia Stories This page intentionally left blank Philadelphia Stories america’s literature of race and freedom Samuel Otter 2010 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2010 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Otter, Samuel, 1956– Philadelphia stories : America’s literature of race and freedom/Samuel Otter. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-19-539592-1 1. American literature—Pennsylvania—Philadelphia—History and criticism. 2. Literature and history. 3. American literature—19th century—History and criticism. 4. Philadelphia (Pa.)—History—19th century. 5. Philadelphia (Pa.)—In literature. I. Title. PS255.P5O88 2010 810.9′3587481103—dc22 2009029086 135798642 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper For Caverlee, Again and always This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments I began to write this book after arriving at the Library Company of Philadelphia to research a different one. At the Library Company, I encountered not only the inexhaustible archives of the institution founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1731 but also the virtuosity of Phillip Lapsansky and James N. Green. Both men generously shared their resources and knowledge. The more I read, the more I realized that there was a story before me, or rather an array of stories, forming a tradition that had gone unrecognized by literary scholars. Without the Library Company and its remarkable staff, this book would have been inconceivable. At a crucial early stage, Cindy Weinstein invited me to present work-in-progress at the Caltech-Huntington Seminar Series in American Studies, where I received valuable encouragement and advice from her, Martha Banta, Jennifer L. Fleissner, Catherine Jurca, and Christopher Looby. Toward the end of my writing, T. Scott McMillin invited me to deliver the Oberlin Lectures in British and American Literature, endowed by the late Andrew Bongiorno at Oberlin College. This opportunity clarified the book’s arguments and structure, and allowed me to benefit from the responses of the Oberlin faculty, including Gillian Johns, Warren Liu, Mayumi Takada, and Sandra Zagarell. I am grateful to the University of California and to the Berkeley English Department and its recent chairs, Jeffrey Knapp, Janet Adelman, Catherine Gallagher, and Ian Duncan, for supporting this project. Fellowships were provided by the University of California President, the Berkeley Chancellor, the Townsend Center for the Humanities, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. I am honored to have Dorothy Hale, Jeffrey Knapp, and Nancy Ruttenburg as colleagues and friends. Their intellectual seriousness and personal generosity have served as an inspiration during my years in the profession and my work on this book. I am indebted to Dori for a keen reading of the entire manuscript. Her detailed comments enabled me to understand what I was claiming and to