Am I Not a Sister?: U.S. Women’s Abolitionist Literacies in the 19th Century

FAIN: FT-286193-22

Ruth Danielle Osorio
Old Dominion University (Norfolk, VA 23529-0001)

Research and writing of a book on the ways 19th-century white and Black women abolitionists learned how to collaborate, setting the stage for future cooperation.

Am I Not a Sister?: U.S. Women’s Abolitionist Literacies in the 19th Century examines the abolitionist texts produced, circulated, and taught by Black and white women. This project will argue that women abolitionists developed activist and pedagogical literacies that opened possibilities for interracial and intra-racial collaboration in the pursuit of Black liberation. A focus on 19th century women’s abolitionist literacies historicizes the practices of community literacy and offers an alternative genealogy for thinking about possibilities for feminist coalitional politics. This focus contributes to ongoing scholarly conversations about community literacy, feminist history, and cross-cultural communication. Furthermore, this project speaks to contemporary conversations about the logics of whiteness within feminist history and practice, illustrating the historical complexity and legacy of concepts like abolition, whiteness, feminism, and intersectionality.