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The Resource Forgotten readers : recovering the lost history of African-American literary societies, Elizabeth McHenry

Forgotten readers : recovering the lost history of African-American literary societies, Elizabeth McHenry

Creator
Summary
Over the past decade the popularity of black writers including E. Lynn Harris and Terry McMillan has been hailed as an indication that an active African American reading public has come into being. Yet this is not a new trend; there is a vibrant history of African American literacy, literary associations, and book clubs. Forgotten Readers reveals that neglected past, looking at the reading practices of free blacks in the antebellum north and among African Americans following the Civil War. It places the black upper and middle classes within American literary history, illustrating how they used reading and literary conversation as a means to assert their civic identities and intervene in the political and literary cultures of the United States from which they were otherwise excluded. Forgotten Readers expands our definition of literacy and urges us to think of literature as broadly as it was conceived of in the nineteenth century. Elizabeth McHenry delves into archival sources, including the records of past literary societies and the unpublished writings of their members. She examines particular literary associations, including the Saturday Nighters of Washington, D.C., whose members included Jean Toomer and Georgia Douglas Johnson. She shows how black literary societies developed, their relationship to the black press, and the ways that African American women's clubs-which flourished during the 1890s-encouraged literary activity. In an epilogue, McHenry connects this rich tradition of African American interest in books, reading, and literary conversation to contemporary literary phenomena such as Oprah Winfrey's book club. Forgotten Readers redirects contemporary thinking about the origins of African American literature and adds a vital element to scholarship on the history of the book. -- Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, LLC
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
xiv, 423 pages
Contents
  • "Dreaded eloquence": the origins and rise of African American literary societies
  • Spreading the word: the cultural work of the Black press
  • Literary coalitions in the age of Washington
  • Reading, writing, and reform in the women's era
  • Georgia Douglas Johnson and the Saturday nighters
Isbn
9780822329800
Instance
Label
Forgotten readers : recovering the lost history of African-American literary societies
Title
Forgotten readers
Title remainder
recovering the lost history of African-American literary societies
Statement of responsibility
Elizabeth McHenry
Creator
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
Over the past decade the popularity of black writers including E. Lynn Harris and Terry McMillan has been hailed as an indication that an active African American reading public has come into being. Yet this is not a new trend; there is a vibrant history of African American literacy, literary associations, and book clubs. Forgotten Readers reveals that neglected past, looking at the reading practices of free blacks in the antebellum north and among African Americans following the Civil War. It places the black upper and middle classes within American literary history, illustrating how they used reading and literary conversation as a means to assert their civic identities and intervene in the political and literary cultures of the United States from which they were otherwise excluded. Forgotten Readers expands our definition of literacy and urges us to think of literature as broadly as it was conceived of in the nineteenth century. Elizabeth McHenry delves into archival sources, including the records of past literary societies and the unpublished writings of their members. She examines particular literary associations, including the Saturday Nighters of Washington, D.C., whose members included Jean Toomer and Georgia Douglas Johnson. She shows how black literary societies developed, their relationship to the black press, and the ways that African American women's clubs-which flourished during the 1890s-encouraged literary activity. In an epilogue, McHenry connects this rich tradition of African American interest in books, reading, and literary conversation to contemporary literary phenomena such as Oprah Winfrey's book club. Forgotten Readers redirects contemporary thinking about the origins of African American literature and adds a vital element to scholarship on the history of the book. -- Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, LLC
Member of
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1965-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
McHenry, Elizabeth
Dewey number
028/.9/08996073
Illustrations
illustrations
Index
index present
LC call number
PS153.N5
LC item number
M36 2002
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
Series statement
New Americanists
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • American literature
  • American literature
  • American literature
  • African Americans
  • African Americans
  • African Americans in literature
  • Literature
Label
Forgotten readers : recovering the lost history of African-American literary societies, Elizabeth McHenry
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages [387]-400) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
"Dreaded eloquence": the origins and rise of African American literary societies -- Spreading the word: the cultural work of the Black press -- Literary coalitions in the age of Washington -- Reading, writing, and reform in the women's era -- Georgia Douglas Johnson and the Saturday nighters
Control code
49415928
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
xiv, 423 pages
Isbn
9780822329800
Isbn Type
(alk. paper)
Lccn
2002004448
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations
Label
Forgotten readers : recovering the lost history of African-American literary societies, Elizabeth McHenry
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages [387]-400) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
"Dreaded eloquence": the origins and rise of African American literary societies -- Spreading the word: the cultural work of the Black press -- Literary coalitions in the age of Washington -- Reading, writing, and reform in the women's era -- Georgia Douglas Johnson and the Saturday nighters
Control code
49415928
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
xiv, 423 pages
Isbn
9780822329800
Isbn Type
(alk. paper)
Lccn
2002004448
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations

Subject

Member of

Library Locations

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      38.944491 -92.326012

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