Title Notes from a colored girl : the Civil War pocket diaries of Emilie Frances Davis / Karsonya Wise Whitehead

Published Columbia, South Carolina : University of South Carolina Press, [2014] ©2014

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Description 1 online resource Series Women's diaries and letters of the South Women's diaries and letters of the South. Contents A world discovered -- Emilie Davis, 1863 -- A world imagined -- A world created -- Emilie Davis, 1864 -- A world of women -- A world expanded -- Emilie Davis, 1865 -- A world where things are well -- Who's who Summary "In Notes from a Colored Girl, Karsonya Wise Whitehead examines the life and experiences of Emilie Frances Davis, a freeborn twenty-one-year-old mulatto woman, through a close reading of three pocket diaries she kept from 1863 to 1865. Whitehead explores Davis's worldviews and politics, her perceptions of both public and private events, her personal relationships, and her place in Philadelphia's free black community in the nineteenth century. Although Davis's daily entries are sparse, brief snapshots of her life, Whitehead interprets them in ways that situate Davis in historical and literary contexts that illuminate nineteenth-century black American women's experiences. Whitehead's contribution of edited text and original narrative fills a void in scholarly documentation of women who dwelled in spaces between white elites, black entrepreneurs, and urban dwellers of every race and class. Notes from a Colored Girl is a unique offering to the fields of history and documentary editing as the book includes both a six-chapter historical reconstruction of Davis's life and a full, heavily annotated edition of her Civil War-era pocket diaries. Drawing on scholarly traditions from history, literature, feminist studies, and sociolinguistics, Whitehead investigates Davis's diary both as a complete literary artifact and in terms of her specific daily entries. From a historical perspective, Whitehead re-creates the narrative of Davis's life for those three years and analyzes the black community where she lived and worked. From a literary perspective, Whitehead examines Davis's diary as a socially, racially, and gendered nonfiction text. From a feminist studies perspective, she examines Davis's agency and identity, grounded in theories elaborated by black feminist scholars. And, from linguistic and rhetorical perspectives, she studies Davis's discourse about her interpersonal relationships, her work, and external events in her life in an effort to understand how she used language to construct her social, racial, and gendered identities. Since there are few primary sources written by black women during this time in history, Davis's diary--though ordinary in its content--is rendered extraordinary simply because it has survived to be included in this very small class of resources. Whitehead's extensive analysis illuminates the lives of many through the simple words of one"-- Provided by publisher Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Print version record Subject Davis, Emilie Frances, 1838-1899 -- Diaries SUBJECT Davis, Emilie Frances, 1838-1899 -- Diaries Davis, Emilie Frances, 1838-1899 fast Subject African Americans -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Biography African Americans -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- History -- 19th century HISTORY -- United States -- Civil War Period (1850-1877) SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Women's Studies. SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Ethnic Studies -- African American Studies. BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- Historical. HISTORY -- United States -- State & Local -- General. HISTORY -- United States -- State & Local -- Middle Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA) HISTORY -- United States -- State & Local -- New England (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT) African Americans Race relations Social conditions SUBJECT Philadelphia (Pa.) -- Race relations -- History -- 19th century Philadelphia (Pa.) -- Social conditions -- 19th century Philadelphia (Pa.) -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85100725 Subject Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Genre/Form Electronic books collective biographies. Biographies Diaries History Biographies. Biographies. Form Electronic book Author Davis, Emilie Frances, 1838-1899. Diaries ISBN 9781611173536 1611173531 1306732042 9781306732048

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