Women in History: Emily Dickinson

Sometimes when times are especially tough poetry becomes a somewhat of a morale booster and means of escaping the reality for a brief moment. So in the light of this idea, we’d decided to discuss the life and works of Emily Dickinson, a famous American woman- poet who had lived in the 19th century.

SOURCE TIME: This is one of the few contemporary photo of Emily Dickinson. Based on your knowledge about women of 1830s in either Europe or America, what can you tell either about Emily Dickinson or the value of a photograph. Think about how popular the photos were at the time.

Think like a Historian:

What do you think photographs can tell a historian about a specific period? Do they only tell about individuals on them?

“He was an awful Mother, but I liked him better than none”

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, on December 10, 1830, a second child to Edward and Emily Norcoss Dickinson. Emily’s father was a lawyer and served as a Treasurer of Amherst College. Little is known of Emily’s mother; only that she had received a good education and that she was prone to depressive episodes throughout her life, something which had probably left a mark on little Emily. Indeed, our protagonist wrote in a letter that she had “always ran Home to Awe [Austin- her older brother] when a child, if anything befell me. He was an awful Mother, but I liked him better than none”, thus demonstrating distance between herself and her mother. However, overall, Emily Dickinson had a happy childhood thanks to the warm relationships with her father and siblings.

Education

In 1840 Emily and her sister Lavinia were enrolled together at the prestigious Amherst Academy, which emphasised the value of girls’ education. Emily was a diligent student who, according to the Academy’s principal Fiske, was “very bright” and “an excellent scholar, of exemplary deportment, faithful in all school duties“. Emily was particularly happy there given that he had found a group of likeminded people with whom she was able to share her ideas with. Dickinson was particularly interested in botany, which was influential on her works given that through scientific observation Emily had been able to develop powerful descriptions which could be found in her poetry.

Nevertheless, such intellectual stimulation had ended when Emily was enrolled into Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1847 to continue her education. This transition marked the start of her continuous self-isolation, which continued throughout her life. Some biographers, site that the establishment couldn’t give Dickinson any new knowledge and was spiritual stifling for her. Indeed, the school record, inspired by the teachings of John Calvin, categorised Emily as “without hope” for salvation.

Think like a Historian:

Do you think education was open to every women during Emily Dickinson’s time? Why do you think so?

Returning home and death

After only one year there, Dickinson had left the school and returned to her parents’ household. As an unmarried woman, Dickinson was expected to take up household tasks, to which she opposed strongly finding the housework dissatisfying. For example, in her letter from the early 1850s she says “God keep me from what they call households,” thus demonstrating frustration and dislike for the domestic work. Dickinson reflected her attitude towards traditional womanhood in her poetry. Opposition to the traditional roles is a distinct theme that runs throughout most of Dickinson’s poetry. For example, in I’m “wife”—I’ve finished that— the narrator is evidently frustrated at her relationship with her husband. Maybe this is the reason for why she had never married (another reason was that Dickinson almost definitely loved women and not men, but that’s still, is disputed by literary historians and biographers).

From about mid 1850s Dickinson grew more and more isolated due to her mother’s declining health and the consequent need to look after the household. Nevertheless, the period from 1855 to about 1880 had proven to be the most fruitful for Dickinson as she had wrote the majority of her works at that time. Although Emily Dickinson’s works weren’t published during her lifetime, soon after her death her poetry had been rediscovered and had a massive success both in the USA and in Europe. 

As usual BBC 4’s In Our Time comes in to save a day with their podcast about Emily Dickinson being available for you to listen to on your way to school, college, or work!

Contextualising Emily Dickinson

Emphasis on the beauty of the natural world shouldn’t come as a surprise. Early 19th century saw the rise in discussion of what human nature actually was and whether human nature was a distinct, classifiable thing. Indeed, scientists like Charles Darwin and Lincoln were challenging the religious dogma ingrained into contemporary European society by the theory of evolution and classification of species.

Although this program seems a bit old and a bit long, it is very useful for understanding the relationship between philosophy and science in the Enlightenment England.

Just as the scientists asked a question about human nature, so had the literary circles. In 1838, famous American poet, Emerson told his Harvard audience, in his The Divinity of School Address ,“Always the seer is a sayer”; thus acknowledging human need for classification. However, differently to his scientific colleagues,  he emphasised to his listeners and readers’ that the word “definition” can be defined as one wishes and thus liberating the writer or a poet from strict definitions to explore different forms of poetry.

And here is a quick video about Emerson and his influence on American literature of 1830s.

Think like a Historian:

Can you think of any other ways in which the context in which Emily Dickinson lived allowed her to write her poetry?

USA of the 1920s-1930s: Life of Black Americans (2/?)

In the previous post, we began discussing the life of Black Americans in 1920-30 and we tried to contextualise the discussion on the start of the segregation movement. In this post we decided to discuss the regional differences of how Black people were treated in this period.

To what extent were the experiences of Black people different in the South and in the North?

At the turn of the century, the majority (around 90%) of the Black American population lived in the South, working predominantly in agriculture as sharecroppers. However, by the 1970s, less than half were living in the South, due to successive waves of South-to-North migration. These were fuelled both by the push factors of acute discrimination, segregation and poor work prospects in the South, and the pull factors of better economic and social opportunities in Northern and Western cities.

Think like a Historian:

What factors can cause a person to move to a city apart from finding better work prospects?

The first movement started in the mid-1910s, when industries in the North faced labour shortage during WWI. Between 1910 and 1920, 500,000 Black Americans migrated northwards to cities like Chicago and New York, or westwards to California. In addition to finding work, many people were drawn to the fact that the North seemingly presented fewer barriers to Black Americans.

This was true to some extent; segregation was less overt than in the South, with some greater opportunities for educational (e.g. integrated schools) and employment advances, and Black Americans had greater freedoms than they did in the sharecropping system of the South. The communities these migrations created in cities also fostered a strong, Black American urban culture, where people could aid and empower each other to fight against discrimination in the North. This led to the first mass social associations of Black Americans, such as the National Urban League or the Universal Negro Improvement Association, which gave the Black community a voice that they could never have had in the South. It was mainly in the North where African American talent could succeed, something which was epitomised by the Harlem Renaissance (a literary and musical movement) in the 1920s.

Here is a short introductory video to the Harlem Renaissance.
Here is a short video about Langston Hughes, one of the famous writers who was influenced by the Harlem Renaissance.

Think like a Historian:

How and why, do you think, discrimination occurs?

However, although Jim Crow Laws only existed in the South, Black Americans in the North faced discrimination and hardship in their daily lives. Often the jobs they found were manual and badly paid, especially once white soldiers returned from WWI, many of them resentful at the appearance that their jobs had been ‘stolen’. Systemic racism meant that de facto segregation was the reality in Northern cities. For example, various clauses were written into leases that prevented Black Americans from buying or renting specific houses, or the redlining policy of refusing to guarantee mortgages in Black neighbourhoods. When Black families moved into white neighbourhoods or attended schools, they were often the targets of similar abuse that they faced in the South. Many Black activists such as Huey Newton and Ella Baker turned to campaigning once they recognised that even the Northern cities they had sought refuge in were heavily discriminatory in their own way.

Here is a video that discusses the impact the Black Panthers had on the segregation movement and compares it with today’s protests.

The Black community was the hardest hit by the Wall Street Crash (1929) and the Depression that followed as they were the first employees to be sacked when the wave of unemployment hit the USA. They received much less aid, and segregation excluded them even from food banks and soup kitchens.

Examples of Violence towards Black Americans:

Race Riots – eg. Tulsa 1921 Massacre. Roughly 150 Black Americans were killed and hundreds injured, as well as thousands of Black businesses and homes destroyed by armed groups of White Americans. The riots were triggered by the fabricated sexual assault of White, 17 year old Sarah Page by Black 19 year old Dick Rowland.

Lynchings – a type of violence carried out by a group of people in the ‘name of the law’ i.e. their perceived idea of law and morality, through which the victim is tortured and murdered, most typically by hanging. Lynching was a tool used by many White Americans to terrorise the Black community and became a symbol of White supremacy and Black oppression throughout the fight for civil rights and equality in America. Typical accusations which triggered and were used as “justifications” for lynchings included murder, sexual assault and any other forms of supposed Black violence towards Whites. e.g. Death of Raymond Gunn – lynched in Maryville, Missouri in 1931 before his trial surrounding the murder of a White school teacher.

Important vocabulary
  • Sharecropper: is a person who relies on usage of someone else’s land, whereby the owner of the land allows a tenant to use the land in exchange for a share of the crop.
  • Segregation: physical separation of one group from the other
  • Harlem Renaissance: a blossoming (c. 1918–37) of African American culture, particularly in the creative arts, and the most influential movement in African American literary history. (cc: Britannica)
  • Black Panthers: African American revolutionary party, founded in 1966 in Oakland, California, by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. The party’s original purpose was to patrol African American neighbourhoods to protect residents from acts of police brutality. (cc: Britannica)
  • the Wall Street Crash: the collapse of the American stock market and consequently the entire American economy on  29 October 1930.
  • Lynchings: a type of violence carried out by a group of people in the ‘name of the law’ i.e. their perceived idea of law and morality, through which the victim is tortured and murdered, most typically by hanging.
To explore the topic further…
  • If you’re interested in the people who’d led the Segregation movement, King: A Critical Biography by David L Lewis is a good place to start. It discusses the role of Martin Luther King Jr. in the Segregation movement.
  • If you’re interested in the actions of the Segregation movement, Freedom Rights: New Perspectives on the Civil Rights Movement by Danielle L. McGuire and John Dittmer provides an updated perspective on the Segregation movement as it discusses it together with the current BLM protests.
  • If you’re interested in the Blank Panthers, or people who’d led the movement, Assata: An Autobiography, by Assata Shakur is a compelling autobiography of Assata Shakur, who was an activist in 1960s-70s and joined various organisations.
  • If you’d like to find out about the ‘feel’ of the life in the 1920s-70s, a good place to start would be by reading Langston Hughes’ poetry (The Negro Speaks of Rivers and I, Too, Am America are a must read) and Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God.

The authors of this series of posts: Clara and Katie

USA of the 1920s-1930s: Life of Black Americans (1/?)

Racism, police brutality, imperialism, protests, the Black Lives Matter, the Segregation movement- we hear these words on the news every day. The variety of discussions these words create are undoubtedly immense and yet, few people understand the historical processes behind the events of today. As thus, this series of posts will aim to contextualise the historical events that are linked with race and empires with a focus on the USA; the effects of which we are witnessing today.

In the near future, we are hoping to also focus on the British and the Russian Empires and you would be able to find the posts about them in their respective sections on our website.

Background

In April 1865, the American Civil War ended bringing a formal end to slavery in the United States.

Here is a short video about the American Civil War to contextualise the events that followed it.

Three amendments (“The Reconstruction Amendments”) were consequently made to the US constitution to signify this seismic shift in American society: the Thirteenth Amendment (1865) abolishing slavery (except for those convicted of committing a crime); the Fourteenth Amendment (1870) affirming Blacks were US citizens and the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) which granted voting rights to every US citizen regardless of “race, colour or previous condition of servitude” which meant Black American men could now vote, provided they fulfilled certain criteria (such as property ownership). On paper these political changes seemed to indicate a move towards a more equal society. In reality, the monumental struggle for Black Americans to have an active role in a politically and socially equal society was only just beginning.

The Reconstructions Amendments were vague and contained loopholes which were exploited by those states that opposed them. Moreover, freed Black slaves remained trapped in a cycle of poverty as they lacked education, wealth, economic power. This also meant they were unable to dominate politically as they lacked the education, experience and means to engage in the political system. The Reconstruction process ended in 1877 and from then on Black Americans, predominantly in the South, faced a full-scale attack on their civil rights.

Think like a Historian:

Can a society be changed? If yes, how can it happen?

Jim Crow Laws and Segregation

Jim Crow refers to the segregation laws, rules and customs that came about after the end of Reconstruction in 1877 and lasted until the 1960s, institutionalising white supremacy and systematic racism across the American South. The name comes from the stock ‘comedy’ character “Jim Crow” which was an exaggerated, stereotypical image of the ‘Black man’ of the early 19​ century, played by black faced actors.

This is a very interesting video made by the Jim Crow museum which discusses the depiction and usage of Jim Crow character in more depth.

Think like a Historian:

Can caricatures be used as historical sources to understand a certain period in history? Why do you think so?

Racial segregation in the South affected all aspects of everyday life for Black Americans: education, public transport, work, healthcare, leisure as well as voting rights and freedom from violence.

Theoretically, Black Americans should have been able to vote throughout this period. However, multiple barriers stopped many from casting their ballot or gaining a foothold in the political system. Black Americans had to pay a poll tax, which many could not afford due to their low wages, as well as pass a literacy test, which was impossible for most due to low literacy levels amongst the Black community. Even those who made it past these obstacles faced suppression in the form of violence and threats. Representation for Black Americans during this period was incredibly low and Black voices were ignored and shunned from the political sphere.

A short video that discusses the effects of Jim Crow laws
Important vocabulary
  • The Reconstructions Amendments: a set of laws that formally ended slavery at the end of the American Civil war
  • Jim Crow: a caricature character which depicted an exaggerated, stereotypical image of the ‘Black man’
  • Jim Crow laws: a set of laws that came about after the end of Reconstruction in 1877 and lasted until the 1960s, institutionalising white supremacy and systematic racism across the American South
  • Segregation: physical separation of one group from the other
To explore the topic further…
  • If you’re interested in the people who’d led the Segregation movement, King: A Critical Biography by David L Lewis is a good place to start. It discusses the role of Martin Luther King Jr. in the Segregation movement.
  • If you’re interested in the actions of the Segregation movement, Freedom Rights: New Perspectives on the Civil Rights Movement by Danielle L. McGuire and John Dittmer provides an updated perspective on the Segregation movement as it discusses it together with the current BLM protests.
  • If you’d like to find out about the ‘feel’ of the life during the times of the Jim Craw laws, a good place to start would be To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

The authors of this series of posts: Clara and Katie