Tyler Measel
Research Mentor: Lakisha Simmons
Mentor Department: History & Women’s and Gender Studies, LSA
Author(s): Tyler Measel, LaKisha Simmons
Session: Session 4 (1:00 PM – 1:50 PM)
Presentation Type: Poster 79
Abstract
Through a close reading of Frances Anne Rollin’s Reconstruction Era diary, we investigate different forms of Black women’s labor. Rollin keeps track of her work during the busy year of 1868. At the time she was living in Boston, Massachusetts and working on her biography of Black Civil War veteran and politician, Martin Delany called, Life and Public Services of Martin R. Delaney. We argue that Rollin’s diary serves as a way for her to keep track of unrecognized and overlooked labor. Her labor included the writing and research process; many people at the time did not think of Black women as serious intellectuals and her work remained for unpaid for much this period. Her labor also included the work of home and health, keeping up with sewing, cooking and creating care networks.
