Nine Black Women

Moira Ferguson is the James E. Ryan Chair in English and Women's Literature at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

"Nine Black Women, Moira Ferguson's fascinating and informative documentation of the literary and political activities of nineteenth-century African American, Canadian, Bermudian, and Caribbean women, is a splendid addition to the library of works now recognizing the lives and voices of women of the African diaspora. A combination of biography, personal testimony, and social history, the breadth of this study opens up new perspectives on how we understand that whether they knew, or knew of each other or not, earlier black women have always engaged each other in powerful dialogue across time and space. Nine Black Women will find great significance and usefulness in a wide array of classrooms as well as in continuing efforts to excavate a complex past that rejects our marginalization and forgetfulness." -- Nellie Y. McKay, University of Wisconsin-Madison"Nine Black Women is an important anthology that will greatly facilitate our study and teaching of nineteenth-century black women's writing. The selections offer us intimate--and at times poignant--glimpses into the personal lives of nine black women; but they also invite us to examine the political dimensions of the women's more public cultural, religious, and social experiences. Finally, in bringing together texts by black women from different regions in the Americas, the volume gives us a significantly new gendered account of the making of the black Atlantic." -- Carla L. Peterson, University of Maryland, College Park

• Introduction The Hart Sisters Introduction 1 Elizabeth Hart Thwaites (1771-1833) Biographical Narrative Chronology From History of Methodism Hymns Weary world, when will it end O Thou whose ear attends the softest prayer! Poem On the Death of the Rev. Mr. Cook Letter to a Friend Excerpts from Correspondence with a Cousin, Miss Lynch 2 Anne Hart Gilbert (1768-1834) Biographical Narrative Chronology From History of Methodism From Memoir of John Gilbert 3 Mary Prince (ca. 1788-after 1833) Introduction Biographical Narrative Chronology From The History of Mary Prince 4 Mary Jane Grant Seacole (1805-1881) Introduction Biographical Narrative Chronology From Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands 5 Harriet Ann Jacobs (1813-1897) Introduction Biographical Narrative Chronology From Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl 6 Harriet E. Adams Wilson (1824 or 1828-1868/1870?) Introduction Biographical Narrative Chronology From Our Nig; or Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, in a Two-Story White House 7 Jarena Lee (1783-after 1849) Introduction Biographical Narrative Chronology From Religious Experience and Journal of Mrs. Jarena Lee 8 Nancy Gardner Prince (1799-?) Introduction Biographical Narrative Chronology From A Narrative of the Life and Travels of Mrs. Nancy Prince 9 Mary Ann Shadd Cary (1823-1893) Introduction Biographical Narrative Chronology Personal Letter To Professor G. Whipple Editorials form the Provincial Freeman Anti-Slavery Relations The Humbug of Reform A Bazaar in Toronto for Frederick Douglass's Paper, &c. The Emigration Convention Intemperance The Presidential Election in the United States A Good Boarding House Greatly Needed by the Colored Citizens Obstacles to the Progress of Colored Canadians Sermon Open Letter or Circular from the Vigilance Committee Open Letter to the Anglo-African Notes; Selected Bibliography; Index