04675nam 2200733Ia 450 991077845240332120221108022710.00-674-04514-910.4159/9780674045149(CKB)1000000000805587(StDuBDS)AH23050956(SSID)ssj0000251730(PQKBManifestationID)11191540(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000251730(PQKBWorkID)10169164(PQKB)11459922(Au-PeEL)EBL3300723(CaPaEBR)ebr10331309(OCoLC)923117040(DE-B1597)574536(DE-B1597)9780674045149(dli)HEB08984(MiU)MIU01000000000000012925659(MiAaPQ)EBC3300723(EXLCZ)99100000000080558720020529d2002 uy 0engur|||||||||||txtccrStories of freedom in Black New York[electronic resource] /Shane White1st Harvard University Press pbk. ed.Cambridge, MA Harvard University Press20021 online resource (260 p.)Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph0-674-02578-4 Includes bibliographical references (p. [227]-249) and index.Introduction 1. The End of Slavery 2. Staging Freedom 3. Shakespeare's True Representative 4. Imitation Epilogue Notes Acknowledgments IndexWhite recreates the experience of black New Yorkers as they moved from slavery to freedom. Through research, he imaginatively recovers the raucous world of the street, the elegance of the city's African American balls and the grubbiness of the Police Office.Stories of Freedom in Black New York recreates the experience of black New Yorkers as they moved from slavery to freedom. In the early decades of the nineteenth century, New York City's black community strove to realize what freedom meant, to find a new sense of itself, and, in the process, created a vibrant urban culture. Through exhaustive research, Shane White imaginatively recovers the raucous world of the street, the elegance of the city's African American balls, and the grubbiness of the Police Office. It allows us to observe the style of black men and women, to watch their public behavior, and to hear the cries of black hawkers, the strident music of black parades, and the sly stories of black conmen. Taking center stage in this story is the African Company, a black theater troupe that exemplified the new spirit of experimentation that accompanied slavery's demise. For a few short years in the 1820's, a group of black New Yorkers, many of them ex-slaves, challenged pervasive prejudice and performed plays, including Shakespearean productions, before mixed race audiences. Their audacity provoked feelings of excitement and hope among blacks, but often of disgust by many whites for whom the theater's existence epitomized the horrors of emancipation. Stories of Freedom in Black New York brilliantly intertwines black theater and urban life into a powerful interpretation of what the end of slavery meant for blacks, whites, and New York City itself. White's story of the emergence of free black culture offers a unique understanding of emancipation's impact on everyday life, and on the many forms freedom can take.African AmericansNew York (State)New YorkHistory19th centuryAfrican AmericansNew York (State)New YorkIntellectual life19th centuryAfrican AmericansNew York (State)New YorkSocial conditions19th centuryAfrican American theaterNew York (State)New YorkHistory19th centuryAfrican American actorsNew York (State)New YorkBiographySlaverySocial aspectsNew York (State)New YorkHistory19th centuryNew York (N.Y.)History1775-1865New York (N.Y.)Race relationsNew York (N.Y.)Intellectual life19th centuryAfrican AmericansHistoryAfrican AmericansIntellectual lifeAfrican AmericansSocial conditionsAfrican American theaterHistoryAfrican American actorsSlaverySocial aspectsHistory974.7100496073White Shane848559MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQBOOK9910778452403321Stories of freedom in Black New York2264237UNINA