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Racial Identity in Women's Life Writing of The University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--English English 2018 AMERICAN MNEMONIC: RACIAL IDENTITY IN WOMEN’S LIFE WRITING OF THE CIVIL WAR Katherine Waddell University of Kentucky, [email protected] Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/ETD.2018.169 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Waddell, Katherine, "AMERICAN MNEMONIC: RACIAL IDENTITY IN WOMEN’S LIFE WRITING OF THE CIVIL WAR" (2018). Theses and Dissertations--English. 71. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/english_etds/71 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the English at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--English by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Katherine Waddell, Student Dr. Marion Rust, Major Professor Dr. Jill Rappoport, Director of Graduate Studies AMERICAN MNEMONIC: RACIAL IDENTITY IN WOMEN’S LIFE WRITING OF THE CIVIL WAR DISSERTATION A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Katherine Waddell Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Marion Rust, Professor of English Lexington, Kentucky 2018 Copyright © Katherine Waddell 2018 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION AMERICAN MNEMONIC: RACIAL IDENTITY IN WOMEN’S LIFE WRITING OF THE CIVIL WAR American Mnemonic: Racial Identity in Women’s Life Writing of the Civil War takes up three American women's autobiographies: Emilie Davis’s pocket diaries (1863-65), Elizabeth Keckley’s Behind the Scenes: Thirty Years a Slave and Four in the White House (1868), and Louisa May Alcott’s Hospital Sketches (1863). Chapter one is devoted to literary review and methodology. Chapter two, "the all-absorbing topic': Belonging and Isolation in Emilie Davis’s Diaries," explores the everyday record of Emilie Davis in the context of Philadelphia’s free black community during the war. Davis’s position as a working-class free woman offers a fresh perspective on the much-discussed “elite” black community in which she participated. Chapter three, “'The Past is Dear': Nostalgia and Geotemporal Distance in Elizabeth Keckley’s Behind the Scenes,” explores Keckley’s memories of the South as she narrates them from her position as an upwardly mobile free black woman in Washington, D.C. My analysis illuminates the effect of shifting subject positions (e.g., from slave to free) on the process of self-narration, a process that I argue ultimately recasts Keckley in a more abolitionist light. Finally, chapter four, “'A Forward Movement': Louisa May Alcott’s Hospital Sketches and the Racialized Temporality of Progress,” argues that Alcott uses the geotemporal conditions of the war hospital to gain social mobility. This forward movement for Alcott leads her to cast black characters in a regressive light, revealing the racial hierarchy of progress. All of these authors express their experiences of time in unique ways, but in each case, the temporal cultural shifts catalyzed by the Civil War impact how they process their racial identities, and the genre of autobiography offers an intimate view of that process. KEYWORDS: Civil War, Autobiography, Racial Identity, Women’s Writing, Memory ____________________________Katherine Waddell ____________________________4/18/2018 Date AMERICAN MNEMONIC: RACIAL IDENTITY IN WOMEN’S LIFE WRITING OF THE CIVIL WAR By Katherine Waddell ___________________________________Marion Rust Director of Dissertation ___________________________________Jill Rappoport Director of Graduate Studies ___________________________________4/17/2018 Date ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the support of many people, but foremost, my parents, Angela and Robby Waddell. Their love for me and their support of my pursuits has been the foundation on which my career is built. I owe to them my lifelong love of literature and my hereditary passion for education. It is for them and for my sisters––Hannah, Rebekah, Madeline, Cecily, and Carly––that I have dedicated myself to this work on women’s lives. My advisor, Marion Rust, has influenced my work at every stage, from germinal ideas for a seminar paper to this final form. Her guidance and criticism shaped my research and my writing, while her openness and generosity allowed me to develop my own scholarly identity and voice. I left every meeting, marked-up draft in hand, feeling heard and encouraged. She is truly a mentor to me, and I am a better writer, scholar, and academic for her influence. In addition to Marion, my other committee members––Jeff Clymer, Michelle Sizemore, and Jacqueline Couti––offered me invaluable advice, instruction, and support throughout my graduate career. Michelle’s ceaseless encouragement and guidance anchored me when I became unmoored; this work would not exist without her inspiration and feedback. I am also grateful to the Department of English at the University of Kentucky for bestowing me with fellowships and awards that made this dissertation possible. My time at the University of Kentucky would not have been the same without the network of friends and colleagues who buoyed my spirit. To my dearest friends––Jade Parry, Alex Menrisky, and Emily Handy––who kept me sane and laughing, who built a web of protection and power, I give my love and gratitude. Finally, my success and my joy are indebted to my partner, Cate Gooch, who has been my most consistent friend and supporter. Above all, I thank her for choosing to join me in this life; it is with all of my love that I dedicate this work to her. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements iii List of Figures v Chapter One – Introduction: Memory, Race, and Identity in the Civil War 1 Introduction 1 Methodology: Memory, Race, and Autobiography 6 Chapter Summaries 16 Chapter Two – “The All-Absorbing Topic”: Belonging and Isolation in Emilie 19 Davis’s Pocket Diaries Introduction 19 A Brief History of the Seventh Ward and Collective Identity 23 “the right spirit”: Community and Belonging in the Seventh Ward 28 “meeting to myself”: Exclusion and Isolation in the Countryside 38 Conclusion 49 Chapter Three – “The Past is Dear”: Nostalgia and Temporal Distance in 52 Elizabeth Keckley’s Behind the Scenes Introduction 52 “to write my life”: Temporal Distance and Slave Narrative 58 “the good old times”: Temporal Transitions of Emancipation 67 “the thought was ever present”: Building Black Solidarity Across Time 71 “the past is dear to every one”: Returning Home and Nostalgic Loss 77 Conclusion 85 Chapter Four – “A Forward Movement”: Louisa May Alcott’s Hospital Sketches 88 and the Racialized Temporality of Progress Introduction 88 Battle Time and Political Identity 90 “take off my body and work in my soul”: Self-determination and the 94 White Body “take some care for these black souls”: Constructing an Abolitionist 100 Identity “of heaven, or of hoe-cakes”: the Black Body in Time 107 Conclusion 112 Coda – In Search of New Mnemonics 115 Bibliography 120 Vita 127 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1, Emilie's Diary: 1864 Title Page 2 Figure 2, Emilie's Diary: January, 1863 33 Figure 3, Bree Newsome Takes Down the Confederate Flag 115 Figure 4, Word Cloud 119 v CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION: MEMORY, RACE, AND IDENTITY IN THE CIVIL WAR The world is wrong. You can’t put the past behind you. It’s buried in you; it’s turned your flesh into its own cupboard. Not everything remembered is useful but it all comes from the world to be stored in you. Claudia Rankine, from Citizen: An American Lyric Introduction At some point, before January 1, 1864, Emilie Davis bought a diary. She had filled similar diaries in previous years, as was her custom. Inside the blank cover page, Emilie wrote her name (see fig. 1). The title page of this particular diary reads, "for the purpose of registering events of past, present, and future occurrence" (figure 1). A diary such as this exists as an archive of personal experiences and memories, and in some ways, serves to make a life remember-able. Emilie Davis marked this diary with her name; she claimed it as her own and filled it with daily remembrances of her life. The diary, as a compact little book, flattens time (registering events across the past, present, and future) while demonstrating the cyclical nature of time as a daily lived experience.
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