When Black Texas Women: 150 Years of Trial and Triumph was published in 1995, it was acclaimed as the first comprehensive history of black women's struggles and achievements. This companion volume contains the original source materials that Ruthe Winegarten uncovered during her extensive research.
Like a time capsule of black women's history, A Sourcebook includes petitions from free women of color, lawsuits, slave testimonies, wills, plantation journals, club minutes, autobiographies, ads, congressional reports, contracts, prison records, college catalogues, newspaper clippings, protest letters, and much more.
In addition to the documents, a biographical section highlights the lives of women from various walks of life. The book concludes with a timeline that begins in 1777 and reaches to 1992. This wealth of original material will be a treasure trove for scholars and general readers interested in the emerging field of black women's history.
Though readers of conscience are aware of the abuses endured by black women, no fiction or interpretation in nonfiction can have the impact of original sources. . . . No library of Texana is complete without [Black Texas Women: A Sourcebook and Black Texas Women]. However, were I to have only one, I would choose this sourcebook for the immediacy of the experiences.
One of its kind. This book is very much needed because of the scarcity of material on black women's history in Texas, or black women's history in general.
- Preface
- List of Documents
- 1. Free Women of Color
- 2. Slavery
- 3. Reconstruction and Beyond
- 4. Education
- 5. The Arts
- 6. Churches, Clubs, and Community Building
- 7. Earning a Living
- 8. Politics and Protest
- Notes
- Biographies
- Timeline
- Index
