Black Women Writing Autobiography

Joanne M. Braxton is Cummings Professor of American Studies and English at the College of William and Mary and author of Sometimes I think of Maryland, a collection of poems.

"In this illuminating study Joanne Braxton shows the continuity and tradition in the writing of Afra-American women. An important work for teachers and students of Literature, History, and Women's Studies."-Gerda Lerner "Braxton's book is scrupulously researched. She has been creative in finding resources and courageous in analyzing and interpreting her finds. This is the word of a diligent mind. The material is mountainous, yet the book sings. Braxton is a poet. Thank goodness."-Maya Angelou"Joanne Braxton's essays on black women's autobiographies delineate and illuminate the personal and historical dimension of an important literary tradition. Emphasizing the distinct character of Afra-American women's experience and relations with each other, she ground their writing of their lives in the struggles and triumphs of the lives they actually led."-Elizabeth Fox-Genovese

• Acknowledgments A Tradition Within a Tradition Part I: Making a Way Out of No Way 1. Outraged Mother and Articulate Heroine: Linda Brent and the Slave Narrative Genre 2. Fugitive Slaves and Sanctified Ladies: Narratives of Vision and Power Part II: Emerging from Obscurity 3. A Poet's Retreat: The Diaries of Charlotte Forten Grimke 4. Crusader for Justice: Ida B. Wells Part III: Claiming the Afra-American Self 5. Motherless Daughters and the Quest for a Place: Zora Neale Hurston and Era Bell Thompson 6. A Song of Transcendence: Maya Angelou A Circle Closing and Expanding References Index