Newspaper Page Text
Gender and Jim Grow :
highlights black women in
white supremacy in N. Carolina
e - CHAPEL HILL
sizukn the early 20th century,agen
eration of educated African-
American women emerged to be
“Veéme, in effect, diplomats to the
9'white community after the dis
~“fréinchisement of their husbands,
"'brothers and fathers. Their sto-
D7iés are told in Gender and Jim
I1€row: Women and the Politics of
"White Supremacy in North Caro
lina, 1896-1920, by Glenda Eliza-
Deth Gilmore.
5 Lhe book was published in Sep
temberby the University of North
;Carolina Press ($17.95 paper
back).
"~ According to Gilmore, a Yale
history professor and North Caro
2lind native, the period covered in
-her'book is generally seen as one
oflittle black resistance toracism.
But that is because historians
Téven’t looked for material in the
“right places. “Basing Southern
Spolitical history on white archival
sotirces has rendered African
‘Americans as passive recipients
“of whites’ actions,” Gilmore writes.
_“Black middle-class men have ap
;pggred asexceptionsinthenarra
;tive, while black women have dis
ja%eared altogether.”
', IGilmore searched the archives
of African-American churches,
newspapers and civic groups and
-identified key playersin the black
middle class of the period. She
-wiés able to interview the descen
dants of many of these people.
Bducated at colleges like Shaw
emd Livingstone and active in
church and civicgroups, their cou
rageous stories are woven
throughout the book.
“"Sarah Dudley Pettey’s is the
fi¥'st voice heard. She was the wife
'of @' bishop in the African Method
ist Episcopal Zion Church in New
Bern and a columnist for the
church’s publication,Starof Zion.
Before the turn of the century,”
t}ilmore writes, “Dudley Pettey
ndher peerssaw themselves not -
l:s a marginalized group, but as
he*vanguard of their race and
ex. As members of the small but
Wit -y o 77
e 9 © 9 i
i 74»4*31', o '9{l W
_::::v::r:E'ZF ;:;,.‘»:;5:":::"" A /‘{: ,»}(:" ?;.
G et w 7
i, i, G T, I, S S,
L. OO oW &0 6 n
PO Tl gy N g Uy el ey ¢
SN W N NN W WW N
Pl P Gl el
sAugusta's best mix of music
A fi;tw,. o
-
Rose Aggrey is one of the
women profiled in Gender
and Jim Crow: Women and
the Politics of White Su
premacy in North Carolina,
1896-1920.
rapidly growingblack middle class
in the South, they were prepared
forleadershipby their educations,
professional positions and volun
tary work. They did not call them
selves feminists, but equality for
women grounded their thinking
as they championed strategies to
benefit all African Americans. Al
though they could not vote, they
took seriously their responsibili
ties as citizens.”
For instance, Mary Lynch, who
taught at Livingstone, wasamem
berofthe Woman’s Christian Tem
perance Union. An ideal strategy
for black women, Gilmore says,
because it “joined black women’s
religious and class values to their
activism.” Lynch was involved
when the North Carolina WCTU
undertook a novel experiment in
interracial contact toward the turn
of the century and was present
whenblack women sat with white
women—ratherthan atthetables
reserved for them — at the 1893
national WCTU convention.
Lynch’s friend Rose Aggrey, a
Shaw University graduate, clas-
Sical'scholar and poet, was active
in the Woman’s Home and For
eign Missionary Society of the
AME Zion Church and eventually
became president of the statewide
federation of black women’sclubs.
Also profiled are courageous
white women like Jane
McKimmon who led the state
home demonstration project,
which encouraged rural women
to step up food production as men
went to war in 1917. By the time
the war had ended, McKimmon
had reached an entire group of
people that she had not previ
ously known: black women. This
experience inspired her to launch
a fight to integrate her agency
staff.
For every uplifting story in the
book, though, there are also the
heartbreaking moments. In
Wilmington in 1898, an army of
white men rampaged the city,
hunting down prominent black
leaders and either shooting them
orrunning them outoftown. Three
daysafter themassacre, ananony
mous black woman wrote to Presi
dent William McKinley begging
for help. Why had he not sent
troops? Why had he left
Wilmington’s African Americans
unprotected to “die like rats in a
trap?”
“Is this the land of the free and
the home ofthe brave?” she asked.
“How can the Negro sing my coun
try tis of thee?”
“When I began this work,”
Gilmore writes, “some warned
me that I would be writing a
tragedy. It is a tragedy, but one
mixed with triumph. In the span
of Sarah Dudley Pettey’s life
time, optimism gave way to de
spair, civil rights vanished never
to be regained and economic op
portunities constricted. Yet
Charlotte Hawkins Brown, born
only 15 years after Dudley
Pettey, lived to see African-
American students demand
seats at a Woolworth’s lunch
counter in Greensboro in 1960.”
Gender and Jim Crow is avail
able at bookstores.or from the
University of North Carolina
Press. Toll-free credit card or
ders:l-800-848-6224.
] errever e \“J - cerenr T sevverveveovessl B
oo J) T l jm m;.J
EVERYDAY AT KROGER! , 50¢ Limit. We will double the first
coupon on each item up to a 50¢ face value. Coupons for additional packages of
the same item will be redeemed at face value. See store for details.
Sold Frozen in 5-Lb. Bags, Bama In-Shell, 36 to 45-Ct.
Large Shrimp $4.99 Lb., 26 to 35-Ct. Jumbo Shrimp $5.99 Lb.
70 to 90-Ct.
Small Shrimp
Lb. 2
e e e
Georgia Mountain Grown
Red Rome
Apples
Kroger
Corn Flakes
18029 9
Box
Limit 2 With $lO Additional Purchase
Kroger
Sugar
S-Lb' l
Bag '
Items and Prices Good thru Saturday, October 5, 1996
Only in Augusta area Kroger stores and Aiken.
SENIOR CITIZEN’S
5% DISCOUNT
EVERY WEDNESDAY!
Alcoholic Beverages Not Included
ADVERTISED ITEM POLICY. Each of these advertised items is required to be
readily available for sale in each Kroger store, except as specifically noted in
this ad. If we do run out of an advertised item, we will offer you your choice
of a comparable item, when available, reflecting the same savings or a
raincheck which will entitle you to purchase the advertised item at the
advertised price. Only one vendor coupon will be accepted per item.
Copyright 1996. The Kroger Co. None Sold To Dealers. Quantity Rights Reserved.
AUGUSTA FOCUS
M
g
FOR GADDNESS SAKE
October 3, 1996
e
19