Podcasts about nineteenth century new york city

In today's episode, we are joined by friend-of-the-pod, Dr. Danielle Rosvally to discuss her new book, Theatres of Value: Buying and Selling Shakespeare in Nineteenth-Century New York City, and how Shakespeare had value for New Yorkers in the 1800s, and how Shakespeare came to be so prominent in American culture. About Danielle Rosvally: Danielle Rosvally is an assistant professor of theatre at the University at Buffalo. Her work examines Shakespeare as cultural capital, particularly iterations that intersect with performance and theatrical labor. Her book Theatres of Value: Buying and Selling Shakespeare in Nineteenth-Century New York City explores how nineteenth-century New York theatre makers bought and sold the commodity of Shakespeare, and how these performances of value intersect with American nation building and national identity. Her next project, Yassified Shakespeare, is a multimedia exploration of how iterations of Shakespearean performance and Shakespeare's cultural capital critically intersect with drag and drag aesthetics. Danielle is a fight director, director, actor, and dramaturge. Her work has been published in Theatre Topics, Studies in Musical Theatre, Borrowers and Lenders, Early Modern Studies Journal, several edited collections, and Shakespeare Bulletin, as well as on TikTok: @YassifiedShax About Theatres of Value: Theatres of Value explores the idea that buying and selling are performative acts and offers a paradigm for deeper study of these acts—"the dramaturgy of value." Modeling this multifaceted approach, the book explores six case studies to show how and why Shakespeare had value for nineteenth-century New Yorkers. In considering William Brown's African Theater, P. T. Barnum's American Museum and Lecture Hall, Fanny Kemble's American reading career, the Booth family brand, the memorial statue of Shakespeare in Central Park, and an 1888 benefit performance of Hamlet to theatrical impresario Lester Wallack, Theatres of Value traces a history of audience engagement with Shakespearean cultural capital and the myriad ways this engagement was leveraged by theatrical businesspeople. Want to read Theatres of Value? Request a copy at your library and DM Danielle a screenshot at @DRosvally on X (Twitter), and Danielle will send you some cool stickers For the month of July 2024, post a picture of you and a slice a pizza with hashtag #theatresofvalue and tag @DRosvally and @SUNY on X (Twitter), and Danielle will DM you a code for 30% off through SUNY Press.  Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone, sending us a virtual tip via our tipjar, or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod.

The Gilded Age West was a place to disappear for some. For Ray Hamilton and Jake Sargent - men from distinguished eastern families that sought privacy after scandals turned their lives apart - the West could not shield them from ongoing intrigue. Dr. Maura Jane Farrelly joins the show to talk about her latest book Compliments of Hamilton and Sargent, which detail these men's lives and those around them in Jackson, Wyoming. Essential Reading: Maura Jane Farrelly, Compliments of Hamilton and Sargent (2024).Recommended Reading: Wendy Gonaver, The Peculiar Institution and the Making of Modern Psychiatry, 1840-1880 (2019).Aaron Freundschuh, The Courtesan and the Gigolo: The Murders in the Rue Montaigne and the Dark Side of Empire in Nineteenth Century Paris (2017).Julie Miller, Abandoned: Foundlings in Nineteenth-Century New York City (2008).Stephen O'Connor, Orphan Trains: The Story of Charles Loring Brace and the Children he Saved and Failed (2001). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 43 we welcome back CARLA L. PETERSON (from Ep. 28), author of the 2011 book  “Black Gotham: A Family History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City.” Carla takes us inside the parties, pleasures, and fashionable lifestyles of New York's Black middle class of the 19th century, and how the philsophy of "taste" informed the lives of that century's Black American elite. We also talk about how the separate and elite lives of 19th century New York “old money,” “new money,” and the Black elite are interpreted for the HBO series, THE GILDED AGE. Carla's book, “Black Gotham,” served as a resource for the creation of the Scott family in THE GILDED AGE now in its second season. THE GILDED AGE is created by Julian Fellowes (DOWNTON ABBEY). Content note: The word “colored” is used in its African American historical context. Download the TRANSCRIPT for Ep. 43 from this link⁠⁠.⁠⁠ PLEASE NOTE: TRANSCRIPTS ARE GENERATED USING A COMBINATION OF SPEECH RECOGNITION SOFTWARE AND HUMAN TRANSCRIBERS, AND MAY CONTAIN ERRORS. ---------- TIMESTAMPS 04:24 Taste in 19th century African American community 08:48 Taste, morality, and community in 19th century Manhattan (New York) 14:31 Fashion as linguistic code 19:12 Black pleasure in 19th century New York 24:47 Art and social status in 19th century New York 35:41 BREAK 37:06 Education and Black Upward Mobility 44:51 Tuskegee Institute/Booker T. Washington and The Talented Tenth/W.E.B. DuBois 48:38 Race, identity and strategic passing 53:12 Upstairs/Downstairs and Capital/Labor Plots 1:01 What if a Scott Family sequel 1:06:04 Where to watch THE GILDED AGE STAY ENGAGED with HISTORICAL DRAMA WITH THE BOSTON SISTERS ⁠LISTEN⁠ to past past podcasts starting with the guests featured in this bonus episode ⁠SIGN UP⁠ for our mailing list SUBSCRIBE to the podcast on your favorite podcast platform You can SUPPORT this podcast on ⁠Spotify⁠ or⁠ SHOP THE PODCAST⁠ on our affiliate bookstore Thank you for listening! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/historicaldramasisters/support

One of the most fascinating story lines in Season One of the HBO series "The Gilded Age" was that of the young black writer Peggy Scott and her Brooklyn family.  Elements of Peggy's father's character were based on scholar Dr. Carla Peterson's own ancestral family.   In her groundbreaking book, Black Gotham: A Family History of African-Americans in Nineteenth Century New York City, Dr. Peterson sheds light on how this community grew, how diverse the community actually was, and she provides insight into leading figures and their contributions often missing in standard accounts of the period.   In this episode Dr. Peterson discusses the path of her own research, which ultimately revealed a richer, deeper sense of community and identity than many realized. 

Episode 28 features a conversation with CARLA L. PETERSON, author of the 2011 book “Black Gotham: A Family History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City.” Professor Peterson's book served as a resource for the creation of the characters, story, and the Black community in HBO's THE GILDED AGE. Part detective tale, part social and cultural narrative, "Black Gotham" is Carla Peterson's riveting account of her quest to reconstruct the lives of her nineteenth-century ancestors. As she shares their stories and those of their friends, neighbors, and business associates, she illuminates the greater history of African-American elites in New York City. (Source: Yale University Press) Carla L. Peterson is professor emerita in the Department of English at the University of Maryland, College Park, and a specialist in nineteenth-century African American literary and cultural studies. In addition to "Black Gotham: A Family History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City" (published in 2011) she has published numerous essays and a second book "Doers of the Word: African-American Women Speakers and Writers in the North, 1830-1880" (1995). Carla Peterson is currently at work on a new project, "Urbanity and Taste: The Making of African American Modernity in Antebellum New York and Philadelphia." Recorded 1/13/23 Download the transcript for Ep. 28 from this link. TIMESTAMPS 0:08 Podcast Generic Open 1:21 Introduction to Black Gotham and The Gilded Age Conversation 3:55 Carla Peterson Introduction 5:07 Black Family History 12:42 Historical Resources and Detective Work 22:00 New York's Black Cosmopolitans 29:42 Southern Slave Economy and Northern White Wealth 38:26 Break 29:03 The Scott Family in HBO's "The Gilded Age" 44:11 Peggy and Arthur Scott: Class, Gender, and Generational Conflict 47:41 Who Has Taste? Black Education, Peggy Scott and Agnes van Rhijn 54:41 Lightning Round: Conversation with Ancestors, Thomas Downing, Interracial Stories, and Stories of the Black Elite 1:06:07 Stay Connected with Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters 1:07 Boilerplate Closing STAY ENGAGED with HISTORICAL DRAMA WITH THE BOSTON SISTERS LISTEN to past past podcasts including bonus episodes, "Women & Power in THE GILDED AGE" part 1 and part 2. SIGN UP for our mailing list SUBSCRIBE to the podcast on your favorite podcast platform You can SUPPORT this podcast on Anchor or SHOP THE PODCAST on our affiliate bookstore. Thank you for listening! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/historicaldramasisters/support

Buffalo Massacre Dr. Manisha Sinha's Monthly  Black History University Recap! ****** In honor of one of the ten victims, Ms. Pearly Young we ask that you donate food to your local food bank. Mrs. Young ran a food pantry and every saturday, for 25 years she donated food. *********** R.I.P #BuffaloSaints~ NY state abolished slavery in 1827, but Black people remained in danger of enslavement & kidnappings. In 1835, to fight back, Black abolitionist David Ruggles helped to found the N.Y. Committee of Vigilance an hybrid of the Black Panther Party & The NAACP. Black New Yorkers remained in danger of enslavement or re-enslavement through widespread kidnappings. Black sailors would go missing from ports. Children would disappear on their way home from school. In 1835, to fight back against the onslaught of oppression, Black abolitionist and businessman David Ruggles helped to found the New York Committee of Vigilance (NYCV), a multi-racial organization a hybrid of the Black Panther Party and The NAACP, would defend Black New Yorkers from predatory whites.  Jamila Brathwaite, authored “The Black Vigilance Movement in Nineteenth Century New York City,” writes, Ruggles fearlessly boarded ships in the New York harbor in search of Black captives or for signs of participants in the illegal slave trade. He published a list bounty hunters kidnappers and the free black traitors who aided them. His work would not have been possible without the efforts of the Black community and leaders like William Wells Brown, a promenient Black Aboltitionist from Buffalo. Brown along with unnamed black people passed along intelligence, fed, clothed, and sheltered fugitives. They also noted suspicious activities and people. Ruggles' bookstore on Lespenard Street. It is the first known Black-owned bookstore in the United States.    

Listen to Grady Lewis's in depth interview on the Gist of Freedom. Grady bought a drink for the mass shooter, in the Buffalo area shooting, one day before the allegedl gunman from Conklin, NY opened fire and live streamed the shooting of ten Black People at the supermarket in a predominantly black neighborhood. ******* A Saint who cared for people in the community was one of the victims of the Buffalo mass shooting. Pearly Young, 77, ran a food pantry in the Central Park neighborhood for 25 years, feeding people every Saturday. Young was killed Saturday while shopping for groceries. She loved singing and dancing. ****** New Zealand took 3 days to ban assault rifles after the mass shooting that inspired the Buffalo shooter. ******* Lewis said he and the shooter discussed "theories" like Time Machines, Critical Race Theory (CRT) and  black holes just hours before the alleged shooter opened fire in the parking lot, which left 10 people dead and three wounded. “I'm wondering, could I have talked to him and said, ‘Hey, we're all one," Lewis told ABC News. He came back here to the same spot where I bought him something to drink and shot people that looked like me and would've shot me if I was standing near.” ******* In 1835, to fight back against the onslaught of oppression, Black abolitionist and businessman David Ruggles helped to found the The New York Community of Vigilance (NYCV), a multi-racial organization that would defend Black New Yorkers from predatory whites. Jamila Shabazz Brathwaite authored “The Black Vigilance Movement in Nineteenth Century New York City,” 

Listen to Grady Lewis's in depth interview on the Gist of Freedom. Grady bought a drink for the mass shooter, in the Buffalo area shooting, one day before the allegedl gunman from Conklin, NY opened fire and live streamed the shooting of ten Black People at the supermarket in a predominantly black neighborhood. ******* A Saint who cared for people in the community was one of the victims of the Buffalo mass shooting. Pearly Young, 77, ran a food pantry in the Central Park neighborhood for 25 years, feeding people every Saturday. Young was killed Saturday while shopping for groceries. She loved singing and dancing. ****** New Zealand took 3 days to ban assault rifles after the mass shooting that inspired the Buffalo shooter. ******* Lewis said he and the shooter discussed "theories" like Time Machines, Critical Race Theory (CRT) and  black holes just hours before the alleged shooter opened fire in the parking lot, which left 10 people dead and three wounded. “I'm wondering, could I have talked to him and said, ‘Hey, we're all one," Lewis told ABC News. He came back here to the same spot where I bought him something to drink and shot people that looked like me and would've shot me if I was standing near.” ******* In 1835, to fight back against the onslaught of oppression, Black abolitionist and businessman David Ruggles helped to found the The New York Community of Vigilance (NYCV), a multi-racial organization that would defend Black New Yorkers from predatory whites. Jamila Shabazz Brathwaite authored “The Black Vigilance Movement in Nineteenth Century New York City,” 

Alexander Manevitz, author of The Rise and Fall of Seneca Village: Remaking Race and Space in Nineteenth-Century New York City (forthcoming), on the free black community destroyed to build Central Park.

In Cry of Murder on Broadway, Julie Miller shows how a woman's desperate attempt at murder came to momentarily embody the anger and anxiety felt by many people at a time of economic and social upheaval and expanding expectations for equal rights.On the evening of November 1, 1843, a young household servant named Amelia Norman attacked Henry Ballard, a prosperous merchant, on the steps of the new and luxurious Astor House Hotel. Agitated and distraught, Norman had followed Ballard down Broadway before confronting him at the door to the hotel. Taking out a folding knife, she stabbed him, just missing his heart.Ballard survived the attack, and the trial that followed created a sensation. Newspapers in New York and beyond followed the case eagerly, and crowds filled the courtroom every day. The prominent author and abolitionist Lydia Maria Child championed Norman and later included her story in her fiction and her writing on women's rights.The would-be murderer also attracted the support of politicians, journalists, and legal and moral reformers who saw her story as a vehicle to change the law as it related to "seduction" and to advocate for the rights of workers. Cry of Murder on Broadway describes how New Yorkers, besotted with the drama of the courtroom and the lurid stories of the penny press, followed the trial for entertainment. Throughout all this, Norman gained the sympathy of New Yorkers, in particular the jury, which acquitted her in less than ten minutes.Miller deftly weaves together Norman's story to show how, in one violent moment, she expressed all the anger that the women of the emerging movement for women's rights would soon express in words.-Julie Miller is the author of Abandoned: Foundlings in Nineteenth-Century New York City. She taught in the history department at Hunter College, City University of New York, before moving to Washington, DC.

Take a receipt out of your pocket. What does it say about you? Receipts can tell us a lot about people and the world in which they lived. And George Washington kept receipts. On today's show, Dr. Julie Miller joins Jim Ambuske to discuss the hidden lives we can find in Washington's receipts and similar documents. Dr. Miller is a historian and the Curator of Early American Manuscripts at the Library of Congress, where she oversees a vast array of archival material, including Washington Papers. She's also one of the forces behind the Library of Congress's Crowdsourcing Campaign, By the People, which encourages citizens to transcribe manuscripts in the library's collections. Last year, the Library asked folks to transcribe two groups of unpublished Washington Papers dating to the Revolutionary War, a collection of receipts and a bundle of British deserter interrogations, with the goal of learning more about people like Mary Smith, Washington's housekeeper. Dr. Miller helps us see the stories we can tease out from these sources. They also touch on the Library of Congress's collaboration with the Georgian Papers Programme and their future exhibit, The Two Georges, which will explore the commonalities shared by George Washington and George III. She also has recently published a new book, Cry of Murder on Broadway: A Woman's Ruin and Revenge in Old New York, which is out now from Cornell University Press. If you like true crime, this book's for you. About Our Guest:  Julie Miller, Ph.D., is the author of Abandoned: Foundlings in Nineteenth-Century New York City. She is the Curator of Early American Manuscripts at the Library of Congress. She taught in the history department at Hunter College, City University of New York, before moving to Washington, DC. About Our Host: Jim Ambuske, Ph.D. leads the Center for Digital History at the Washington Library. A historian of the American Revolution, Scotland, and the British Atlantic World, Ambuske graduated from the University of Virginia in 2016. He is a former Farmer Postdoctoral Fellow in Digital Humanities at the University of Virginia Law Library. At UVA Law, Ambuske co-directed the 1828 Catalogue Project and the Scottish Court of Session Project.  He is currently at work on a book about emigration from Scotland in the era of the American Revolution as well as a chapter on Scottish loyalism during the American Revolution for a volume to be published by the University of Edinburgh Press.

Take a receipt out of your pocket. What does it say about you? Receipts can tell us a lot about people and the world in which they lived. And George Washington kept receipts. On today’s show, Dr. Julie Miller joins Jim Ambuske to discuss the hidden lives we can find in Washington’s receipts and similar documents. Dr. Miller is a historian and the Curator of Early American Manuscripts at the Library of Congress, where she oversees a vast array of archival material, including Washington Papers. She’s also one of the forces behind the Library of Congress’s Crowdsourcing Campaign, By the People, which encourages citizens to transcribe manuscripts in the library’s collections. Last year, the Library asked folks to transcribe two groups of unpublished Washington Papers dating to the Revolutionary War, a collection of receipts and a bundle of British deserter interrogations, with the goal of learning more about people like Mary Smith, Washington’s housekeeper. Dr. Miller helps us see the stories we can tease out from these sources. They also touch on the Library of Congress’s collaboration with the Georgian Papers Programme and their future exhibit, The Two Georges, which will explore the commonalities shared by George Washington and George III. She also has recently published a new book, Cry of Murder on Broadway: A Woman’s Ruin and Revenge in Old New York, which is out now from Cornell University Press. If you like true crime, this book’s for you. About Our Guest: Julie Miller, Ph.D., is the author of Abandoned: Foundlings in Nineteenth-Century New York City. She is the Curator of Early American Manuscripts at the Library of Congress. She taught in the history department at Hunter College, City University of New York, before moving to Washington, DC. About Our Host: Jim Ambuske, Ph.D. leads the Center for Digital History at the Washington Library. A historian of the American Revolution, Scotland, and the British Atlantic World, Ambuske graduated from the University of Virginia in 2016. He is a former Farmer Postdoctoral Fellow in Digital Humanities at the University of Virginia Law Library. At UVA Law, Ambuske co-directed the 1828 Catalogue Project and the Scottish Court of Session Project. He is currently at work on a book about emigration from Scotland in the era of the American Revolution as well as a chapter on Scottish loyalism during the American Revolution for a volume to be published by the University of Edinburgh Press. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/mountvernon/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mountvernon/support

Alexander Manevitz, author of The Rise and Fall of Seneca Village: Remaking Race and Space in Nineteenth-Century New York City (forthcoming), on the free black community destroyed to build Central Park

Digging up our roots seems to be the thing these days.  There are a host of genealogy resources available for anyone who cares to (re)discover their familial past.  Still, in the Americas people of African descent who want to take part in this digging encounter barriers; often there are gaps in the family histories of those whose members were bought and sold on a whim.   As she takes readers on a remarkable historical journey, Carla Peterson, author of Black Gotham:  A Family History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City (Yale University Press, 2011), illuminates the challenges of (re)discovering family histories and along the way, readers glean much about US national history. Armed with determination, patience beyond measure, and with several doses of serendipity, Peterson, Professor of English at the University of Maryland, College Park, takes her desire to return and find elements of her past to the archives of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.  Her persistence reveals to readers a new view of nineteenth century Gotham, as Washington Irving called the city of New York.  For example, Black Gothamprovides support for social historians who would argue that the New Negro movement–often solely associated with the Harlem Renaissance–began in the ante-bellum era.  And, those interested in the education of free African Americans pre-1865 may find it fascinating that many of the 19th century's black elite were a part of New York's African Free School system–the Mulberry Street School, in particular.  Celebrated alumni include James McCune Smith, Alexander Crummell, Henry Highland Garnet, George Downing, the Reason brothers–Charles and Patrick–as well as Peterson's great-great grandfather, Peter Guignon, and her great-grandfather, Philip White.  As Peterson rediscovers her paternal family's New York history, she at times laments the obscurity to which the women in her family were relegated; she does her best to remedy this, however, as she uses facts and imagination to piece together their lives. While the book divulges new perspectives on freedom–or the lack thereof–for black New Yorkers in the nineteenth century, it also is instructive with regards to methods of research for those who seek to dress up the scraps of memory mothers, fathers, grand-aunts or grand-uncles choose to share. Needless to say, the acts of both forgetting and remembering are found not only in personal narratives of history; the journey upon which Peterson embarks also forces readers to consider how and whom institutions choose to forget and/or remember–indeed, how the nation selectively forgets and remembers. Sankofa is an Adinkra symbol of West Africa's Akan people that means “to go back and take it.”  It describes one impetus for Dr. Carla Peterson's journey for she indeed goes back to see; Black Gotham:  A Family History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City attests to the fact that her insistence pays off significantly–both for her personally, and for lovers of history alike.  Read alongside a virtual archive http://archive.blackgothamarchive.org/ wherein one can find documents and images of New York's black elite of the nineteenth century, the narrative moves one steadily along, inspiring new critical questions and intrigue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies

Digging up our roots seems to be the thing these days.  There are a host of genealogy resources available for anyone who cares to (re)discover their familial past.  Still, in the Americas people of African descent who want to take part in this digging encounter barriers; often there are gaps in the family histories of those whose members were bought and sold on a whim.   As she takes readers on a remarkable historical journey, Carla Peterson, author of Black Gotham:  A Family History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City (Yale University Press, 2011), illuminates the challenges of (re)discovering family histories and along the way, readers glean much about US national history. Armed with determination, patience beyond measure, and with several doses of serendipity, Peterson, Professor of English at the University of Maryland, College Park, takes her desire to return and find elements of her past to the archives of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.  Her persistence reveals to readers a new view of nineteenth century Gotham, as Washington Irving called the city of New York.  For example, Black Gothamprovides support for social historians who would argue that the New Negro movement–often solely associated with the Harlem Renaissance–began in the ante-bellum era.  And, those interested in the education of free African Americans pre-1865 may find it fascinating that many of the 19th century’s black elite were a part of New York’s African Free School system–the Mulberry Street School, in particular.  Celebrated alumni include James McCune Smith, Alexander Crummell, Henry Highland Garnet, George Downing, the Reason brothers–Charles and Patrick–as well as Peterson’s great-great grandfather, Peter Guignon, and her great-grandfather, Philip White.  As Peterson rediscovers her paternal family’s New York history, she at times laments the obscurity to which the women in her family were relegated; she does her best to remedy this, however, as she uses facts and imagination to piece together their lives. While the book divulges new perspectives on freedom–or the lack thereof–for black New Yorkers in the nineteenth century, it also is instructive with regards to methods of research for those who seek to dress up the scraps of memory mothers, fathers, grand-aunts or grand-uncles choose to share. Needless to say, the acts of both forgetting and remembering are found not only in personal narratives of history; the journey upon which Peterson embarks also forces readers to consider how and whom institutions choose to forget and/or remember–indeed, how the nation selectively forgets and remembers. Sankofa is an Adinkra symbol of West Africa’s Akan people that means “to go back and take it.”  It describes one impetus for Dr. Carla Peterson’s journey for she indeed goes back to see; Black Gotham:  A Family History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City attests to the fact that her insistence pays off significantly–both for her personally, and for lovers of history alike.  Read alongside a virtual archive http://archive.blackgothamarchive.org/ wherein one can find documents and images of New York’s black elite of the nineteenth century, the narrative moves one steadily along, inspiring new critical questions and intrigue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Digging up our roots seems to be the thing these days.  There are a host of genealogy resources available for anyone who cares to (re)discover their familial past.  Still, in the Americas people of African descent who want to take part in this digging encounter barriers; often there are gaps in the family histories of those whose members were bought and sold on a whim.   As she takes readers on a remarkable historical journey, Carla Peterson, author of Black Gotham:  A Family History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City (Yale University Press, 2011), illuminates the challenges of (re)discovering family histories and along the way, readers glean much about US national history. Armed with determination, patience beyond measure, and with several doses of serendipity, Peterson, Professor of English at the University of Maryland, College Park, takes her desire to return and find elements of her past to the archives of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.  Her persistence reveals to readers a new view of nineteenth century Gotham, as Washington Irving called the city of New York.  For example, Black Gothamprovides support for social historians who would argue that the New Negro movement–often solely associated with the Harlem Renaissance–began in the ante-bellum era.  And, those interested in the education of free African Americans pre-1865 may find it fascinating that many of the 19th century’s black elite were a part of New York’s African Free School system–the Mulberry Street School, in particular.  Celebrated alumni include James McCune Smith, Alexander Crummell, Henry Highland Garnet, George Downing, the Reason brothers–Charles and Patrick–as well as Peterson’s great-great grandfather, Peter Guignon, and her great-grandfather, Philip White.  As Peterson rediscovers her paternal family’s New York history, she at times laments the obscurity to which the women in her family were relegated; she does her best to remedy this, however, as she uses facts and imagination to piece together their lives. While the book divulges new perspectives on freedom–or the lack thereof–for black New Yorkers in the nineteenth century, it also is instructive with regards to methods of research for those who seek to dress up the scraps of memory mothers, fathers, grand-aunts or grand-uncles choose to share. Needless to say, the acts of both forgetting and remembering are found not only in personal narratives of history; the journey upon which Peterson embarks also forces readers to consider how and whom institutions choose to forget and/or remember–indeed, how the nation selectively forgets and remembers. Sankofa is an Adinkra symbol of West Africa’s Akan people that means “to go back and take it.”  It describes one impetus for Dr. Carla Peterson’s journey for she indeed goes back to see; Black Gotham:  A Family History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City attests to the fact that her insistence pays off significantly–both for her personally, and for lovers of history alike.  Read alongside a virtual archive http://archive.blackgothamarchive.org/ wherein one can find documents and images of New York’s black elite of the nineteenth century, the narrative moves one steadily along, inspiring new critical questions and intrigue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Digging up our roots seems to be the thing these days.  There are a host of genealogy resources available for anyone who cares to (re)discover their familial past.  Still, in the Americas people of African descent who want to take part in this digging encounter barriers; often there are gaps in the family histories of those whose members were bought and sold on a whim.   As she takes readers on a remarkable historical journey, Carla Peterson, author of Black Gotham:  A Family History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City (Yale University Press, 2011), illuminates the challenges of (re)discovering family histories and along the way, readers glean much about US national history. Armed with determination, patience beyond measure, and with several doses of serendipity, Peterson, Professor of English at the University of Maryland, College Park, takes her desire to return and find elements of her past to the archives of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.  Her persistence reveals to readers a new view of nineteenth century Gotham, as Washington Irving called the city of New York.  For example, Black Gothamprovides support for social historians who would argue that the New Negro movement–often solely associated with the Harlem Renaissance–began in the ante-bellum era.  And, those interested in the education of free African Americans pre-1865 may find it fascinating that many of the 19th century’s black elite were a part of New York’s African Free School system–the Mulberry Street School, in particular.  Celebrated alumni include James McCune Smith, Alexander Crummell, Henry Highland Garnet, George Downing, the Reason brothers–Charles and Patrick–as well as Peterson’s great-great grandfather, Peter Guignon, and her great-grandfather, Philip White.  As Peterson rediscovers her paternal family’s New York history, she at times laments the obscurity to which the women in her family were relegated; she does her best to remedy this, however, as she uses facts and imagination to piece together their lives. While the book divulges new perspectives on freedom–or the lack thereof–for black New Yorkers in the nineteenth century, it also is instructive with regards to methods of research for those who seek to dress up the scraps of memory mothers, fathers, grand-aunts or grand-uncles choose to share. Needless to say, the acts of both forgetting and remembering are found not only in personal narratives of history; the journey upon which Peterson embarks also forces readers to consider how and whom institutions choose to forget and/or remember–indeed, how the nation selectively forgets and remembers. Sankofa is an Adinkra symbol of West Africa’s Akan people that means “to go back and take it.”  It describes one impetus for Dr. Carla Peterson’s journey for she indeed goes back to see; Black Gotham:  A Family History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City attests to the fact that her insistence pays off significantly–both for her personally, and for lovers of history alike.  Read alongside a virtual archive http://archive.blackgothamarchive.org/ wherein one can find documents and images of New York’s black elite of the nineteenth century, the narrative moves one steadily along, inspiring new critical questions and intrigue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Carla L. Peterson appears at the 2011 National Book Festival. Speaker Biography: Carla L. Peterson is an English professor and affiliate faculty member of the American Studies, African-American Studies and Women's Studies departments at the University of Maryland at College Park. Her works include "African-American Women Orators in the Antebellum North," "Antebellum Slave Narrators: Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs" and "Family, Memory, History: Reconstituting Black Elite Culture in Nineteenth-Century New York." Her new book, "Black Gotham: A History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City" (Yale University Press), is Peterson's riveting account of her quest to reconstruct her 19th-century ancestors' lives. For captions, transcript, and more information, visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=5276.