×


 x 

Shopping cart
8%OFFLynn M. Hudson - The Making of Mammy Pleasant: A Black Entrepreneur in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco - 9780252075278 - V9780252075278
Stock image for illustration purposes only - book cover, edition or condition may vary.

The Making of Mammy Pleasant: A Black Entrepreneur in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco

€ 24.99
€ 23.07
You save € 1.92!
FREE Delivery in Ireland
Description for The Making of Mammy Pleasant: A Black Entrepreneur in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco Paperback. Examines the folklore of Mary Ellen Pleasant's real and imagined powers. Addressing the lack of a historical record of black women's lives, this book argues that the silences and mysteries of Pleasant's past, whether never recorded or intentionally omitted, reveal as much about her life as what has been documented. Series: Women in American History. Num Pages: 224 pages, 14 photos. BIC Classification: 1KBBWF; 3JH; HBJK; HBLL; JFSL3. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational. Dimension: 229 x 157 x 16. Weight in Grams: 367.

Investigating Mary Ellen Pleasant's convoluted legacy

Mary Ellen Pleasant arrived in Gold Rush-era San Francisco a free black woman with abolitionist convictions and a predilection for entrepreneurial success. Behind the convenient and trusted disguise of "Mammy," she transformed domestic labor into enterprise, amassed remarkable real estate, wealth, and power, and gained notoriety for her work in fighting Jim Crow.

Pleasant's legacy is steeped in scandals and lore. Was she a voodoo queen who traded in sexual secrets? A madam? A murderer? In The Making of "Mammy Pleasant," Lynn M. Hudson examines the folklore of Pleasant's real and imagined powers. ... Read more

Addressing the lack of a historical record of black women's lives, the author argues that the silences and mysteries of Pleasant's past, whether never recorded or intentionally omitted, reveal as much about her life as what has been documented. Through Pleasant's life, Hudson also interrogates the constructions of race, gender, and sexuality during the formative years of California's economy and challenges popular mythology about the liberatory sexual culture of the American West.

Show Less

Product Details

Format
Paperback
Publication date
2008
Publisher
University of Illinois Press United States
Number of pages
224
Condition
New
Series
Women in American History
Number of Pages
224
Place of Publication
Baltimore, United States
ISBN
9780252075278
SKU
V9780252075278
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 7 to 11 working days
Ref
99-1

About Lynn M. Hudson
Lynn M. Hudson is an associate professor of history at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is the author of West of Jim Crow: The Fight against California's Color Line.

Reviews for The Making of Mammy Pleasant: A Black Entrepreneur in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco
Winner of the Barbara Penny Kanner Prize, Western Association of Women Historians, 2004. "For more than a century, Mary Ellen Pleasant's reputation was as a voodoo queen, sorceress, madam, and murderer. But thanks to [Hudson's] new book, the legendary San Franciscan is reclaiming her identity as a savvy businesswoman, gutsy heroine, and early champion of civil rights."
Los Angeles ... Read more

Goodreads reviews for The Making of Mammy Pleasant: A Black Entrepreneur in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco


Subscribe to our newsletter

News on special offers, signed editions & more!