Anthologies of African American Writing

Nine Black Women: An Anthology of Nineteenth-Century Writers from the United States, Canada, Bermuda and the Caribbean

"Nine Black Women: An Anthology of Nineteenth-Century Writers from the United States, Canada, Bermuda and the Caribbean." Ed. Moira Ferguson. New York: Routledge, 1998. xvi+278 pp.

Introduction

The Hart Sisters: Introduction
1. Elizabeth Hart Thwaites (1771-1833) [Antigua]: Biographical Narrative; Chronology
● Elizabeth Hart Thwaites / From "History of Methodism"
● Elizabeth Hart Thwaites / Hymn: Weary world, when will it end
● Elizabeth Hart Thwaites / Hymn: O Thou whose ear attends the softest prayer!
● Elizabeth Hart Thwaites / Poem: On the Death of the Rev. Mr. Cook
● Elizabeth Hart Thwaites / Letter to a Friend
● Elizabeth Hart Thwaites / Excerpts from Correspondence with a Cousin, Miss Lynch

2. Anne Hart Gilbert (1768-1834) [Antigua]: Biographical Narrative; Chronology
● Anne Hart Gilbert / From "History of Methodism"
● Anne Hart Gilbert / From "Memoir of John Gilbert"

3. Mary Prince (ca. 1788-after 1833) [Bermuda, Great Britain]: Introduction; Biographical Narrative; Chronology
● Mary Prince / From "The History of Mary Prince"

4. Mary Jane Grant Seacole (1805-1881) [Jamaica]: Introduction; Biographical Narrative; Chronology
● Mary Jane Grant Seacole / From "Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands"

5. Harriet Ann Jacobs (1813-1897) [USA]: Introduction; Biographical Narrative; Chronology
● Harriet Ann Jacobs / From "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl"

6. Harriet E. Adams Wilson (1824 or 1828-1868/1870?) [USA]: Introduction; Biographical Narrative; Chronology
● Harriet E. Adams Wilson / From "Our Nig; or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, in a Two-Story White House"

7. Jarena Lee (1783-after 1849) [USA]: Introduction; Biographical Narrative; Chronology
● Jarena Lee / From "Religious Experience and Journal of Mrs. Jarena Lee"

8. Nancy Gardner Prince (1799-?) [USA]: Introduction; Biographical Narrative; Chronology
● Nancy Gardner Prince/ From "A Narrative of the Life and Travels of Mrs. Nancy Prince"

9. Mary Ann Shadd Cary (1823-1893) [USA, Canada]: Introduction; Biographical Narrative; Chronology
● Mary Ann Shadd Cary / Personal Letter: To Professor G. Whipple
● Mary Ann Shadd Cary /Editorial from the "Provincial Freeman": Anti-Slavery Relations
● Mary Ann Shadd Cary / Editorial from the "Provincial Freeman": The Humbug of Reform
● Mary Ann Shadd Cary / Editorial from the "Provincial Freeman": A Bazaar in Toronto for Frederick Douglass's Paper, &c.
● Mary Ann Shadd Cary / Editorial from the "Provincial Freeman": The Emigration Convention
● Mary Ann Shadd Cary / Editorial from the "Provincial Freeman": Intemperance
● Mary Ann Shadd Cary / Editorial from the "Provincial Freeman": The Presidential Election in the United States
● Mary Ann Shadd Cary / Editorial from the "Provincial Freeman": A Good Boarding House Greatly Needed by the Colored Citizens
● Mary Ann Shadd Cary / Editorial from the "Provincial Freeman": Obstacles to the Progress of Colored Canadians
● Mary Ann Shadd Cary / Sermon
● Mary Ann Shadd Cary / Open Letter or Circular from the Vigilance Committee
● Mary Ann Shadd Cary / Open Letter to the Anglo-African

Notes
Selected Bibliography: Primary Sources; Secondary Sources
Index

"Nine Black Women brings together for the first time work by some of the earliest black women writers from the Eastern and Western Caribbean, Bermuda, Canada, and the United States. The writings here represent a variety of genres, regions, professions, and political perspectives and provide a glimpse into the lives of women, slave and free, who coped with extreme racism and sexism.
With an introduction that contains copious biographical details about each writer and a brief chronology preceding each text, Nine Black Women is a unique collection of original works" (WorldCat).

"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

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