Quotidian resistance: Black American girls, their girlhood embroideries, and the history of education in the northeastern United States, 1789-1852
Date
2023
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
There is a historical link between Black American girls and their needlework in early America, Great Britain’s religious and educational organizations, and the needlework traditions of the African continent. This dissertation focuses on the history of education and needlework in the United States between 1789 and 1852 through the needlework, particularly girlhood embroideries, of Black American girls. Phebe Cash, Mary D’Silver, Mary Emiston, Rosena Disery, Adaline Harris, and Olevia Rebecca Parker are centered throughout the chapters utilizing material and visual culture analysis of their needlework. By centering on Black American creative girls, a more nuanced understanding is gained about the spread of embroidery knowledge and the formal education system formed for Black children in the United States. For instance, this dissertation locates African embroidery knowledge within the transatlantic world dating back centuries. It reveals the influences of Indigenous African and Islamic traditions, brought with the people enslaved in the Americas and passed down through generations in the United States. This history is often not taught or acknowledged in American embroidery, sampler-making, or needlework books. Furthermore, this dissertation focuses on the transition of education for Black American children linked to education policies across the ocean in Great Britain from the home to public spaces. This work is done by turning to the work of scholars Saidiya V. Hartman, Robin Bernstein, and Jasmine Nichole Cobb. It employs the methodology of critical fabulation, the performance-based theory of scriptive things, and the transatlantic parlor to uncover what cannot be known from the scant archival documents of these girls’ lives. Ultimately, “Quotidian Resistance: Black American Girls, their Girlhood Embroideries, and the History of Education in the Northeastern United States, 1789-1852” adds to the rich tapestry of information being gathered about Black girls during the early national and antebellum periods.
Description
Keywords
African Americans, Black American girlhood, Embroidery, Material culture, Needlework, Transatlantic history