New Negro Womanhood in the Nation's Capital, 1890-1940 By
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Configuring Modernities: New Negro Womanhood in the Nation’s Capital, 1890-1940 by Treva Blaine Lindsey Department of History Duke University Date: ________________________ Approved: ________________________________ Laura Edwards, Supervisor ________________________________ Mark Anthony Neal ________________________________ Adriane Lentz-Smith ________________________________ Davarian Baldwin Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History in the Graduate School of Duke University 2010 ABSTRACT Configuring Modernities: New Negro Womanhood in the Nation’s Capital, 1890-1940 by Treva Blaine Lindsey Department of History Duke University Date: ________________________ Approved: _____________________________ Laura Edwards, Supervisor ________________________________ Mark Anthony Neal ________________________________ Adriane Lentz-Smith ________________________________ Davarian Baldwin An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History in the Graduate School of Duke University 2010 Copyright by Treva Blaine Lindsey 2010 Abstract During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a cadre of black women merged the ideals of the “New Woman” and the “New Negro” to configure New Negro Womanhood. For these women, the combining of these two figurations encapsulated the complexity and strivings of black women attempting to achieve racial and gender equality and authorial control of their bodies and aspirations. New Negro women challenged racial and gender inequality and exclusion from participating in contemporaneous political and cultural currents. New Negro women are meaningful in understanding how ideas about black women’s political, economic, social and cultural agency challenged New Negro’s ideological focus on black men and New Woman’s ideological focus on white women. At the core of the New Negro woman ethos was a transformation in how black women thought about the possibility of moving into the public sphere. Black women etched out the parameters of individual and collective aspirations and desires within a modern world in which they were treated as second-class citizens. My dissertation explores New Negro womanhood in Washington, D.C. The nation’s capital functioned as a preeminent site for the realization of African American possibility. The District of Columbia also offered unique opportunities for African American political, civic, social and cultural involvement. More specifically, the city was a fruitful site for the development of African American women’s leadership, entrepreneurship and creativity. I use black beauty culture, performance activism, women’s suffrage activism, higher education, and black leisure spaces in Washington to iv examine how black women grappled with and configured ideas about black modernity. Each of these areas provided a distinct context in which African American women in Washington transgressed boundaries of both racial and gender hierarchies and aspired to greater visibility, mobility, and legibility within the modern world. African American women in Washington embraced New Negro Womanhood as a conduit to black modernity. v Dedication This work is dedicated to all people fighting for a more equal and just world. Your tireless dedication to making a difference inspire and motivate me. vi Table of Contents Abstract.............................................................................................................................. iv List of Figures.................................................................................................................... ix Acknowledgements............................................................................................................. x Introduction......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: Climbing the Hilltop: New Negro Womanhood at Howard University..... 23 The Hilltop: A Brief History of Howard University .................................................... 25 Lucy Diggs Slowe: The Story of a Defiant Pioneer ..................................................... 29 Debunking Ideology, Affirming New Negro Womanhood.......................................... 34 The Mordecai Johnson Years: Setbacks and Challenges for New Negro Womanhood43 Sexual Harassment and Redefining Intra-Racial Gender Relations in a New Negro Era ...................................................................................................... 47 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 53 Chapter Two: Make Me Beautiful: Aesthetic Discourses of New Negro Womanhood... 60 The Origins of the Modern Black Beauty Industry and Its Emergence in the Nation’s Capital........................................................................................................................... 66 The Birth of the Black Beauty Industry in Washington ............................................... 74 New Negro Women and Advertising Discourses in Washington................................. 87 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 100 Chapter Three: Performing and Politicizing “Ladyhood”: Black Washington Women and New Negro Suffrage Activism ....................................................................................... 104 African American Suffrage and Suffrage Activism in the United States................... 109 New Negro Women’s Suffrage Activism: Washington and Beyond ......................... 116 vii Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 132 Chapter Four: Saturday Night at the S Street Salon: New Negro Women Playwrights. 137 Before Saturday Nights: Black Women Playwrights in Washington in the Early New Negro Era.................................................................................................................... 142 Georgia Douglas Johnson, the S Street Salon, & New Negro Women’s Playwrigh.. 154 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 172 Chapter Five: The “Other” Saturday Night: New Negro & Blues Culture Consciousness .................................................................. 175 New Negro Women Singing the Blues....................................................................... 185 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 193 Conclusion: Rethinking New Negro and Black Modernity............................................ 195 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 202 Biography........................................................................................................................ 221 viii List of Figures Figure 1: Howard University circa 1880s......................................................................... 23 Figure 2: The Library at Howard University (1890) ........................................................ 28 Figure 3: Lucy Diggs Slowe ............................................................................................. 33 Figure 4: Women at Howard University (1920)............................................................... 40 Figure 5: President Mordecai Johnson.............................................................................. 43 Figure 6: “Black Skin Remover” Advertisement (1899).................................................. 80 Figure 7: The Chemical Wonder Company Advertisement (1909).................................. 82 Figure 8: Beauty Advertisements (1910).......................................................................... 85 Figure 9: Madame Finnie Mack Advertisement (1910) ................................................... 89 Figure 10: Notice to Ladies Advertisement (1910) .......................................................... 92 Figure 11: Southern Beauty Culture School Advertisement (1910)................................. 94 Figure 12: Mary Church Terrell (1909)............................................................................ 97 Figure 13: Fannie Barrier Williams (1909) ...................................................................... 97 Figure 14: Nannie Helen Burroughs (1909) ..................................................................... 98 Figure 15: M.M. Kimball (1909)...................................................................................... 99 Figure 16: E.E. Whitfield (1909)...................................................................................... 99 Figure 17: Suffrage Parade, Order of Processional (March 3rd, 1913) ........................... 129 Figure 18: Angelina Weld Grimke ................................................................................. 148 Figure 19: The Home of Georgia Douglas Johnson/The S Street Salon (2008)............. 155 Figure 20: Georgia Douglas Johnson.............................................................................. 161 ix Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank my Creator. It is only through Your grace, mercy, and unconditional love that