Amrita Myers, Forging Freedom: Black Women and the Pursuit of Liberty in Antebellum Charleston - College of Charleston Libraries

March 11, 2014
Events, College of Charleston, Avery Research Center

McKinley-Washington Auditorium, Avery Research Center

Friday, March 28th, 6:30 pm

The Friends of the Library and the Avery Research Center will welcome Dr. Myers in a discussion of her recent publication, Forging Freedom: Black Women and the Pursuit of Liberty in Antebellum Charleston, which analyzes how black women in Charleston acquired, defined, and defended their own vision of freedom.  Discussing topics such as manumission, work and property ownership, Myers argues that for black women in the Old South, freedom was an experience, not just a fixed legal category.  Emancipation without the ability to improve one’s financial, social, and legal standing was a poor imitation of liberty.  Ultimately, Forging Freedom reveals the ways in which Charleston’s black women overcame significant obstacles in order to craft a freedom of their own design instead of settling for the limited liberties imagined for them by white Southerners.

 

Addlestone Library is open to the College of Charleston community and affiliates via card access. Visitors may access Addlestone Library Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm, and must present a government issued ID and sign in upon entry.

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