Writing African American Women: An Encyclopedia of Literature by and about Women of Color PDF
Preview Writing African American Women: An Encyclopedia of Literature by and about Women of Color
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 (cid:1) London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Writing AfricanAmerican women : anencyclopedia ofliterature by andabout women of color / editedbyElizabethAnnBeaulieu. p. cm. Includes bibliographical referencesand index. ISBN0–313–33196–0 (set : alk. paper)—ISBN 0–313–33197–9 (v.1 : alk. paper)— ISBN0–313–33198–7 (v.2 : alk. paper) 1. American literature—African American authors—Encyclopedias. 2. Authors, American—20th century—Biography— Encyclopedias. 3. African American women inliterature—Encyclopedias. 4. Women and literature—United States—Encyclopedias. I. Beaulieu, ElizabethAnn. PS153.N5W756 2006 810.9'928796073—dc22 2005031487 BritishLibrary Cataloguing inPublication Data is available. Copyright #2006 byElizabethAnnBeaulieu All rightsreserved. Noportion of thisbook maybe reproduced, byany processor technique,without the expresswritten consentof thepublisher. This bookis included in theAfrican American Experience database fromGreenwood Electronic Media. For more information, visitwww.africanamericanexperience.com. Libraryof Congress CatalogCard Number:2005031487 ISBN0–313–33196–0 (set) 0–313–33197–9 (vol.1) 0–313–33198–7 (vol.2) First published in 2006 Greenwood Press, 88PostRoad West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprintof Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.greenwood.com Printed inthe United States ofAmerica The paperused in thisbook complieswiththe Permanent PaperStandard issuedby theNational 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 notknowthewordpatriarchy,butIwasastuteenoughtorecognizethetruthin 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 capti- vatednotsomuchbyhisstoryasbytheanecdoteofAuntHesterwithwhich he concludes his first chapter. Douglass identifies the beating of his aunt as crucialinhisawarenessofhisownpositionasaslave,callingtheepisode‘‘the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery’’ through which he is reluctantly and violently ushered. DouglassnevermentionsAuntHesteragain,andIfinishedreadingthetext 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 wewerenotaffordedtheopportunitytoplacetheirlivesandtheirstoriesside by side with Douglass’s Narrative and other tales of heroic American mas- culinity?
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