Fri, 28 Sep 2012
A collection of letters which reveal a vivid snapshot of 19th century American slavery are coming to the University of East Anglia as part of Black History Month.
The letters were written by Sarah Hicks Williams (pictured in later life) – a young white middle-class woman who left her New York State roots to marry a slaveholder in the South.
They span the 1850s and 60s and chart Sarah’s initial discomforts with southern living – particularly slaveholding – and her subsequent assimilation into the “Southern way of life”.
On loan from the University of North Carolina, the letters will be available online as part of a digitisation project. And the original copies will displayed at the ‘Containing Multitudes’ exhibition at the Millennium Library, Norwich, from October 1-14.
The exhibition has been organised by Dr Rebecca Fraser from UEA’s school of American Studies, who has been researching the history behind the correspondence and has written a book charting Sarah’s life story – to be published in November.
She said: “Sarah Hicks Williams came from a particularly religious family who were heavily engaged in the moral reform movements of the period. Her father Samuel was a prominent business leader in New Hartford, New York, and an active member of the Whig Party. Her mother Sarah Parmelee was a devout member of New Hartford’s Presbyterian Church and was dedicated to charitable causes.
“Furthermore, Sarah’s sister, Mary, had married staunch anti-slavery man James Brown in 1845, after which they moved to his family’s homestead on the Ohioan frontier. Their house in Bloomfield was known as a way-station on the Underground railroad, helping escaped slaves reach the North and freedom.
“In 1853, Sarah’s decision to marry Benjamin Williams at the age of 26 was met with incredulity by her family and friends. She gave up her pursuit of social justice and reform for life as a plantation mistress to 37 enslaved men, women and children held on her husband’s plantation.
“She moved from New York to Greene County, North Carolina, and the cultural shift was huge. Initially, she felt very desperate and dislocated from everything she had previously known and grown up with. It was a completely different world.
“At the start, you can see that she found it strange to have slaves waiting on her. But she goes from having a moral reforming attitude, to becoming a competent slave holding mistress – which I found very shocking. I felt that somehow she sold out on her principles, and by the time of the Civil War she had completely cut ties with Mary and James.
“These letters have been preserved for posterity. She’s not well known, but that’s why I find them so interesting. The letters are important historically because they describe how people lived and experienced transition and change in their lives. Also, they were never written for public consumption so they are very frank.”
Sarah Hicks Williams died in 1917, aged 92.
Containing Multitudes launches to the public on October 1 as part of Black History Month. The exhibition will run for two weeks alongside a series of public talks. The 11 letters which will be on display are part of a 100-strong collection at the Southern Historical Collection archives, Chapel Hill. They have also been digitised by the Norfolk Records Office.
Dr Fraser’s forthcoming book Gender, Race and Family in Nineteenth Century America: From Northern Woman to Plantation Mistress will be published by Palgrave Macmillan in November.
They span the 1850s and 60s and chart Sarah’s initial discomforts with southern living – particularly slaveholding – and her subsequent assimilation into the “Southern way of life”.
On loan from the University of North Carolina, the letters will be available online as part of a digitisation project. And the original copies will displayed at the ‘Containing Multitudes’ exhibition at the Millennium Library, Norwich, from October 1-14.
The exhibition has been organised by Dr Rebecca Fraser from UEA’s school of American Studies, who has been researching the history behind the correspondence and has written a book charting Sarah’s life story – to be published in November.
She said: “Sarah Hicks Williams came from a particularly religious family who were heavily engaged in the moral reform movements of the period. Her father Samuel was a prominent business leader in New Hartford, New York, and an active member of the Whig Party. Her mother Sarah Parmelee was a devout member of New Hartford’s Presbyterian Church and was dedicated to charitable causes.
“Furthermore, Sarah’s sister, Mary, had married staunch anti-slavery man James Brown in 1845, after which they moved to his family’s homestead on the Ohioan frontier. Their house in Bloomfield was known as a way-station on the Underground railroad, helping escaped slaves reach the North and freedom.
“In 1853, Sarah’s decision to marry Benjamin Williams at the age of 26 was met with incredulity by her family and friends. She gave up her pursuit of social justice and reform for life as a plantation mistress to 37 enslaved men, women and children held on her husband’s plantation.
“She moved from New York to Greene County, North Carolina, and the cultural shift was huge. Initially, she felt very desperate and dislocated from everything she had previously known and grown up with. It was a completely different world.
“At the start, you can see that she found it strange to have slaves waiting on her. But she goes from having a moral reforming attitude, to becoming a competent slave holding mistress – which I found very shocking. I felt that somehow she sold out on her principles, and by the time of the Civil War she had completely cut ties with Mary and James.
“These letters have been preserved for posterity. She’s not well known, but that’s why I find them so interesting. The letters are important historically because they describe how people lived and experienced transition and change in their lives. Also, they were never written for public consumption so they are very frank.”
Sarah Hicks Williams died in 1917, aged 92.
Containing Multitudes launches to the public on October 1 as part of Black History Month. The exhibition will run for two weeks alongside a series of public talks. The 11 letters which will be on display are part of a 100-strong collection at the Southern Historical Collection archives, Chapel Hill. They have also been digitised by the Norfolk Records Office.
Dr Fraser’s forthcoming book Gender, Race and Family in Nineteenth Century America: From Northern Woman to Plantation Mistress will be published by Palgrave Macmillan in November.
