Fannie Barrier Williams: Crossing the Borders of Region and Race (New Black Studies Series)

Born shortly before the Civil War, activist and reformer Fannie Barrier Williams (1855-1944) became one of the most prominent educated African American women of her generation. Hendricks shows how Williams became "raced" for the first time in early adulthood, when she became a teacher in Missouri and Washington, D.C., and faced the injustices of racism and the stark contrast between the lives of freed slaves and her own privileged upbringing in a western New York village. She carried this new awareness to Chicago, where she joined forces with black and predominantly white women's clubs, the Unitarian church, and various other interracial social justice organizations to become a prominent spokesperson for Progressive economic, racial, and gender reforms during the transformative period of industrialization. By highlighting how Williams experienced a set of freedoms in the North that were not imaginable in the South, this clearly-written, widely accessible biography expands how we understand intellectual possibilities, economic success, and social mobility in post-Reconstruction America. Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Contents......Page 6 List of Illustrations......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Introduction......Page 16 1. North of Slavery: Brockport......Page 24 2. "Completely Surrounded by Screens": A Raced Identity......Page 43 3. Creating Community in the Midwest: Chicago......Page 65 4. Crossing the Border of Race: The Unitarians, the World's Fair, and the Chicago Woman's Club......Page 84 5. A Distinctive Generation: "The Colored Woman's Era"......Page 108 6. The New Century: North and South Meet......Page 134 7. A New Era: Duty, Responsibility, and Tension......Page 165 Conclusion......Page 188 Notes......Page 192 Bibliography......Page 230 Index......Page 246 "In this first biography of Williams, Wanda A. Hendricks focuses on the critical role geography and social position played in Williams's life, illustrating how the reform activism of Williams and other black women was bound up with place and space. ... By highlighting how Williams experienced a set of freedoms in the North that were not imaginable in the South, this clearly written, widely accessible biography expands how we understand intellectual possibilities, economic success, and social mobility in post-Reconstruction America."--Publisher description.