A landmark collection documenting the social, political, and artistic lives of black American women throughout the tumultuous nineteenth century
The Portable Nineteenth Century Black Women Writers is the most comprehensive anthology of its kind--an extraordinary range of voices offering the expressions of black American women in print before, during, and after the Civil War. Edited by Hollis Robbins and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., this collection comprises work from forty-nine writers arranged into sections of memoir, poetry, and essays on feminism, education, and the legacy of black women writers. Many of these pieces engage with social movements like abolition, women's suffrage, temperance, and civil rights, but the thematic center is black womens' intellect and personal ambition. The diverse selection includes well-known writers like Sojourner Truth, Hannah Crafts, and Harriet Jacobs, as well as lesser-known writers like Ella Sheppard, who offers a firsthand account of life in a world-famous singing group. Taken together, these incredible works insist that the writing of black women writers be read, remembered, and addressed.
