Speaking Lives, Authoring Texts is a critical collection of three women's oral slave narratives, Louisa Picquet, the Octoroon: A Tale of Southern Slave Life (1861), The Story of Mattie J. Jackson (1866), and Sylvia Dubois, A Biography of The Slave Who Whipped Her Mistress and Gained Her Freedom (1883), that have received little scholarly attention owing both to the oral nature of the texts and the circumstances of their publication and republication. Taken together, these narratives display African American women's discursive practices that subvert oppression, assert agency, and create representations of the past that counter dominant narratives of both slavery and American culture. This volume ensures that twenty-first-century readers "hear" these voices to not only gain historical knowledge, but also to understand the dynamics of literacy and self-representation, and to locate oral narratives in the spectrum and tradition of African American literary production. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION Speaking Lives, Authoring Texts: African American Women's Voices Raised for Freedom
CHRONOLOGY OF LOUISA PICQUET Louisa Picquet, The Octoroon: A Tale of Southern Slave Life (1861) Hiram Mattison
CHRONOLOGY OF MATTIE J. JACKSON The Story of Mattie J. Jackson(1866) L. S. Thompson
CHRONOLOGY OF SYLVIA DUBOIS Sylvia Dubois (Now 116 Years Old), A Biography of the Slave Who Whipped Her Mistress and Gained Her Freedom(Translation of C. W. Larison's original phonetic text)
Silvia Dubois (Now 116 Yers Old), A Biografy of The Slav Who Whipt Her Mistress and Gand Her Fredom(1883) (Facsimile) C. W. Larison
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Speaking Lives, Authoring Texts hree African American Women’s Oral Slave Narratives edited by DoVeanna S. Fulton MinorandReginald H. Pitts
Speaking Lives, Authoring Texts
Speaking Lives, Authoring Texts
Three African American Women’s Oral Slave Narratives
EDITED BY DoVeanna S. Fulton Minor AND Reginald H. Pitts
S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y O F N E W Y O R K P R E S S
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Speaking lives, authoring texts : three African American women’s oral slave narratives / edited by DoVeanna S. Fulton Minor and Reginald H. Pitts. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-4384-2965-6 (hbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4384-2964-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Picquet, Louisa, b. 1828? 2. Jackson, Mattie J. 3. Dubois, Silvia, 1788 or 9–1889. 4. Women slaves—United States—Biography. 5. Slavery—United States— History—19th century. I. Fulton Minor, DoVeanna S. II. Pitts, Reginald H. III. Picquet, Louisa, b. 1828? Louisa Picquet, the octoroon, or, inside views of southern domestic life. IV. Jackson, Mattie J. Story of Mattie J. Jackson. V. Larison, Cornelius Wilson, 1837–1910. Silvia Dubois. E444.S73 2010 306.3'62092—dc22 2009012
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For Black women who have spoken up throughout the ages.
LIST OFILLUSTRATIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
CO N T E N T S
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INTRODUCTION Speaking Lives, Authoring Texts: African American Women’s Voices Raised for Freedom1 CHRONOLOGY OFLOUISAPICQUET39 Louisa Picquet, The Octoroon: A Tale of Southern Slave Life(1861) Hiram Mattison43 CHRONOLOGY OFMATTIEJ. JACKSON95 The Story of Mattie J. Jackson(1866) L. S. Thompson99 CHRONOLOGY OFSYLVIADUBOIS131 Sylvia Dubois (Now 116 Years Old), A Biography of the Slave Who Whipped Her Mistress and Gained Her Freedom (Translation of C. W. Larison’s original phonetic text)133 Silvia Dubois (Now 116 Yers Old), A Biografy of The Slav Who Whipt Her Mistress and Gand Her Fredom(1883) (Facsimile) C. W. Larison195
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IL L U S T R A T I O N S
Frontispiece of the original publication ofLouisa Picquet, The Octoroon(1860)
Sylvia Dubois and daughter, Elizabeth Alexander, circa 1883