Reviews selected literature about Black women within the framework of Black history in the United States. Includes recent books and articles as well as older classic titles. Uses two approaches: thematic and chronological. (Author/CK)

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) was an extremely popular organization among black women. During this time the YWCA enjoyed a reputation as a leader in interracial affairs. Internally, however, the structure of the YWCA protected the prevailing racial status quo. Black women were served…

This paper describes the behavior patterns adopted by enslaved Black women to protect themselves and their children and to undermine the economic and sexual oppression to which they were subjected. Sexual abstinence, abortion, and infanticide are the major phenomena documented and discussed. (EB)

This resource book provides information and activity sheets on the achievements and contributions of exceptional African American women, past and present. The book contains six sections, thematically organized around the central issue(s) affecting the lives of the women featured. Introductory questions, biographical portraits and skill-building…

Discusses the use of novels and other works written by African American women as tools for teaching the history of black women in the United States in an undergraduate course. Focuses on specific works used in the course, such as Octavia Butler's "Kindred" and Terry McMillan's "Waiting to Exhale." (CMK)

Argues that black women formed a crucial part of the evolution of ideals of mutual aid and collective action from the period of slavery onward. Traces the process from mutual aid societies, continuing through literary and antislavery groups and beyond. Recounts the experiences of a number of black women. (DSK)

In spite of lack of support from white women, educated black women concentrated their efforts on better conditions for the uneducated and the poorer among them during the late 19th century. Their primary concerns were education and employment opportunities, suffrage, the defense of black female morality, and the condemnation of lynching. The…

Based upon research conducted during the past decade that identifies speech features of form, topic, content, and use of language as male- or female-associated, this paper examines the rhetoric of Sojourner Truth in reference to these features. It classifies her directness, originality, and action as male-associated and her modesty, emotionalism,…

Describes a lesson that focuses on the strike organized by the African-American washerwomen in Atlanta (Georgia) in order to protect their autonomy and increase their pay. Explains that the laundry workers' protest contrasted the image of complacent Southern workers depicted by the city's business and political elite. (CMK)

Presents a lesson on Betsey Sompayrac, a free woman of color living in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Focuses on her will and its contents and historical issues surrounding the will. Students transcribe the will and write a paper, drawing conclusions from the document. Includes a transcription of the will and the document assignment. (CMK)

The contributions of two black women journalists--Ida Baker Wells and Ethel L. Payne--are examined in this paper. The paper first discusses the life and work of Phillis Wheatley and traces the history of the black press in the pre- and post-Civil War eras, noting types of black publications that existed, major problems they faced, and limitations…

Presents views of Frederick Douglass, W. E. B. Du Bois, Malcolm X, and James Hal Cone (African-American male leaders) toward African-American women in the United States. Discusses the role of African-American men in addressing and eradicating sexism in African-American churches and the African-American community. (SLD)

Reviews two films dealing with the Black south. Julie Dash's 1992 film "Daughters of the Dust" offers a historical moment in African-American culture concentrating on African-American women. Charles Burnett's 1991 film "To Sleep with Anger," which is set in the Los Angeles (California) of early southern migrants, also…

The pre-emancipation (1830-1865) black woman reformer was concerned with race "uplift," a sense of duty and obligation to her race. Black women in the North formed mutual aid societies for the economic survival of the destitute. Regardless of economic status, free blacks consistently sought to aid slaves in the South; the poor often saved for…

Asserts that the story of people of African descent in the United States often has been ignored or distorted. Reports on a project to produce a single comprehensive research guide to the literature of black history and culture. Describes the proposed guide's contents and maintains that it will have over 10,000 bibliographic entries. (CFR)