I want the start out my talk with two quotes. Um, theyre both from the prologue of my book, and ill give a little explanation for them, um, but they introduce why i decided to write book. So the first quote is in my own prose from the prologue. We still hold certain truths about africanamericans to be selfevident; that the phrase 19th Century Black americans refers to enslaved people. That the, that new york state before the civil war denotes a place of freedom, that blacks in this new york city designates harlem, that the black community posits a classless and culturally unified society, that a black elite did not exist until well into the 20th century. The lives of my new york forebearers belies such assumptions. They were born free at a time when slavery was still legal in new york state. They lived in racialtymixed neighborhoods, first in Lower Manhattan and then after the civil war in brooklyn at a time when harlem was a mere village. They were part of new yorks small but Signific
Black gotham Carla Peterson recounts the lives of black elites in new york city in the 19th century. Professor peterson examines a community of black new read more . Recounts the lives of africanamerican elites in new ork. This is about an hour, ten minutes. Um, i want the start out my talk with two quotes. Um, theyre both from the prologue of my book, and ill give a little explanation for them, um, but they introduce why i decided to write book. Write the book. So the first quote is in my own prose from the prologue. We still hold certain truths about africanamericans to be selfevident; that the phrase 19th Century Black americans refers to enslaved people. That the, that new york state before the civil war denotes a place of freedom, that blacks in this new york city esignates harlem, that the black community posits a classless and culturally unified society, that a black elite did not exist until well into the 20th century. The lives of my new york forebearers belies such assumption