Bradshaw, Cappoferri, Quinn

and Zimmerman Anthology

Introduction

In this edition of our anthology, we have expanded upon the American writers of

the 1800’s who were of a minority. Our anthology features four sections including Native

Americans, African Americans, American Women and Non-Christian authors. We’ve

combined the works of Standing Bear, Nathaniel Ames, Black Hawk, Paul Dunbar,

Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley, Fanny Fern, John Boyle O’Reily and

Moriss Winchesvsky to provide a traditionally non-canonical anthology. We chose these

specific authors alongside some we have read in class to show new voices of the 19th

century that aren’t usually heard. These pieces are tied together by unifying themes of

underrepresentation, and the desire for equality that they voiced in their literary works.

One major goal of this anthology is to show students the perspectives of different

authors facing similar situations in the 19th

century. Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley’s

autobiography, “Behind the Scenes. Or 30 Years a Slave and 4 Years in the White

House,” can be read alongside Douglass’s, “Narrative of Frederick Douglass, an

American Slave.” Similarly, Ponca Indian Chief, Standing Bear’s oral speech, “What I

am Going to Tell You Here Will Take Me Until Dark,” can be read next to Sauk Indian

Chief, Black Hawk’s autobiography, “From Life of Black Hawk.” The question we want

students to ask when reading these pieces is why one was chosen over the other to be

canonized. We have learned from Jane Tompkins essay, “Sensational Designs: The

Cultural Work of American Fiction that the general sense of what is “good” is subjective.

Creating a unifying theme and showing timeless values were things to consider before

placing a literary work into the cannon. Some of the works that we chose to place in our

anthology may not have been the most popular works of the time period, or in today’s

society, but we believe many of them should be read alongside the more recognized

authors that we read in this course.

While most of the anthology’s read in classrooms today consist of white,

Christian men with the occasional white woman, the works we have chosen continue to

display the diversity of groups in America. It is important, especially in the cases of

Native Americans, to keep these works in print because traditionally they passed down

their stories orally (like in the case of Standing Bear). These oral works provide

alternative voices, and perceptions of literature that student’s aren’t used to reading.

Similarly, African American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar produces “dialectic” poems that

show the cultural and social circumstances of African Americans slaves in the 19th

century.

With an anthology such as this one, teacher’s can avoid students reading the same

authors they’ve read before, such as Emerson or Thoreau. It also shows students that not

only white men were writing in this time period, but minority groups as well. They told

inspiring stories of overcoming oppression should be heard next to the privileges of upper

class whites. With this being said, a question students should ask themselves while

reading the works included in this anthology is, what if these minority groups were given

the same opportunities as white upper class men during this time period, such as

publishing works of “excellence”? Should not these works of hardship and achievements

be read as well?

This anthology is directed toward upper level high school and college students.

All pieces are meant to be read in their entirety and in the order that they have been set up

in the table of contents due to related material topics.

Table of Contents

Minority Groups in the United States

1. Native Americans

Headnote – Standing Bear – What I am Going to Tell You Here Will Take Me Until Dark

Nathaniel Ames – Spirit Lovers

Blackhawk - Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak, or Blackhawk

2. African Americans

Headnote – Paul Dunbar – A Warm Day in Winter

Frederick Douglass -Narrative of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

3. American Women

Headnote – Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley – Behind the Scenes. Or 30 Years a Slave and 4

Years in the White House

Fanny Fern (Sara Willis) – Hungry Husbands

Fanny Fern (Sara Willis) – Hints to Young Wives

4. Foreign Americans

Headnote – John Boyle O’Reily – The Cry of the Dreamer

Moriss Winchesvsky – In Rain In The Wind In The Forest

Ma-chu-na-zah Standing Bear

(1834-1908)

Ma-chu-na-zah or “Standing Bear” was born around 1834 on the Ponca land.

Currently present day Nebraska; the Ponca tribe had villages that extended along the

Niobrara River and were known to have a record of peaceful relations with their non-

Indian neighbors. Standing Bear’s active participation in hunting and fishing with older

tribe members caused his leadership qualities to surface at a young age, and he quickly

became Chief of the Ponca tribe. In his oral speech, “What I am Going to Tell You Will Take

Me Until Dark,” Standing Bear petitions for his tribes right to return to their home land

after the U.S. government accidently included the Poncais land in territory appointed to the

Sioux in the Treaty of 1868. Sioux raids on Ponca claimed territory caused many Native

American lives to be lost, eventually causing the government to move the Ponca’s Indiana

territory to present day Oklahoma. Although the Ponca chiefs rejected the new territory,

the government used the U.S. Army to forcibly relocate the Native Americans to their new

allocated land. Suffering from loss of food and shelter in Oklahoma, Standing Bear and

thirty other tribe members made the defiant journey back to their homeland in Nebraska.

They were eventually arrested and held by General George Crook at Fort Omaha. It was

during this time that a journalist from the Omaha Daily Herald, Thomas H. Tibbles, told

Standing Bear’s story to the public. Together with the help of the journalist and two

lawyers, Standing Bear petitioned for his right to return to his homeland in the court case

that’s now known as Standing Bear et al v. Crook. Standing Bear sued for a writ of habeas

corpus against the defendant General Crook for unlawfully holding the Ponca tribe under

his control. As the trial came to a close, Judge Elmer S. Dundy came to the conclusion that,

“an Indian is a person within the meaning of the laws of the United States,” and their land

was returned to them.

“What I Am Going to tell You Here Will Take Me Until Dark,” was originally

translated by David Le Clair (a Ponca) in 1881, and appeared in “Senate Executive

Document 30 of the third session of the Forty-sixth Congress.” Like many Native American

pieces of literature, Standing Bear’s oral speech reflects the life experience, epistemological

differences, and betrayal felt by many Native Americans during this time of removal and

resistance. Unlike written documents, the Native American’s spoken words created

alternative perceptions of literature and offered a voice that shared with his audience

authentic rhetoric skills. Read alongside Black Hawk’s, Black Hawk: An Autobiography,

Standing Bear’s desire for equal rights for his people can be felt in the way he addresses

General Crook by stating, “If men want to trade, they say, How much do you want for that

piece of property? . . . But nothing of that kind was said; they came and took me away

without saying a word.”

Paul Laurence Dunbar

Paul Laurence Dunbar was born June 27, 1872. He was an African-American

poet, novelist and playwright in the late 19th

and early 20th

centuries. His poetry was

extremely well known for his use of “Negro dialect”. It allowed his readers to gain the

best idea possible of how slaves spoke. This type of style helped him to become one of

the first nationally accepted African-American writers. President Theodore Roosevelt

honored Dunbar with the “ceremonial sword”.

Dunbar’s parents were escaped slaves; making their way to freedom by escaping

slavery in Kentucky. His father went on to become a veteran of the American Civil War,

serving in the famous 55th

Massachusetts Infantry Regiment and the 5th

Massachusetts

colored cavalry regiment, the first regiment of its kind. Paul was born six months into his

parent’s marriage.

Paul Laurence Dunbar was the only African-American student while attending

Dayton’s Central High School. He was extremely involved in extracurricular activities

such as handling the responsibility of being the editor of the school newspaper as well as

being class president. He was also the president of the literary society. At the age of six

he wrote his first poem and performed in his first recital at age 9. His mother Matilda

helped Dunbar with his schooling, often reading the Bible with him in hopes that he

would become a minister for the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Over Dunbar’s career he wrote a dozen books of poetry, four books of short

stories, and five novels and one play. In 1892 Dunbar published the first book of many

entitled Oak and Ivy. In 1895 He published a second book called Majors and Minors.

Through these two works alone he gained popularity across the country. He also wrote

lyrics for the first musical that was ever written and performed completely by African-

Americans, “In Dahomey” it was also the first of its kind that made it to Broadway. His

works were repeatedly published in leading journals of the time. These journals included

names such as Harper’s Weekly, the Saturday Evening Post, Current Literature and the

Denver Post. He was also the editor and publisher of the Dayton Tattler. One such work

that had been published at this time period, and acclaimed for its “negro dialect” was A

Warm Day in Winter. This poem was a prime example of what a slave spoke like, the

tone of voice seeped out of every line.

As an African-American writer at this time it was rare to gain so much attention

for a body of work. The use of dialect made him stand out from other writers of the time,

causing many to be interested in Dunbar’s works.

Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley

1818- May 26 1907

Behind the Scenes. Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House.

More often known as Mary Todd Lincoln’s dressmaker than by her given name,

Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley, this African American Slave woman combines the life of an African

American Slave way of live with life in The White House with the president of the United States.

This autobiography, without question could be read next to the Narrative of Frederick Douglass,

an American Slave. In her book Keckley describes her life as a former slave and her service to

the Lincoln family. Her devotion to the first lady as not only her faithful dressmaker and friend is

shown when she publishes her novel to aid the Lincoln family with their overwhelming debt

after the assassination of President Lincoln.

Keckley begins her book with a paradox: “My life has been an eventful one. I was born a

slave-was the child of slave parents-therefore I came upon the earth free in God-like thought, but

fettered in action.” Her childhood was similar to that of many other children born into slavery at

this time. Her parents were absent for the majority of her childhood, per their master’s request

and she was separated with both of her parents for most of her life. When she is finally reunited

with her mother after she had given birth to a son, who was conceived after Keckley was subject

to rape for many years by her master. This autobiography can be read next to Douglass’ work to

show not only the life of male African American Slaves, but to show the equally important side

of a woman in this time period and circumstance. Douglass was the child of a master and slave

relationship and was then to follow in his mother’s place, as a piece of property to his master.

After Keckley, her mother, and son are taken to St. Louis, Missouri she is able to purchase their

freedom. On August 13, 1855, with money saved from working as a seamstress and help from a

patron, Keckley is able to purchase freedom for her son, mother and self for $1,200.

In this novel, Keckley exposes “white women’s cruelty and complicity in slavery.” She

also describes her rape, lack of freedom, loss of family during service, her eventual

emancipation, and her rise to life in the White House as dressmaker to Mary Lincoln.

Poor reception of Keckley’s book was certainly due to the heavy racism still prominent in

the 1860’s, and was soon parodied as Behind the Seams (1868), by Betsey Kickley. It is believed

that parts of Keckley’s autobiography were ghostwritten or edited heavily by publisher, James

Redpath. This theory was reinforced when Keckley admitted to having no formal education.

“Since Keckley’s authorship has been documented by firsthand observations, claims that

Redpath wrote any or all of Behind the Scene seem unfounded.”

Having lived in undoubtedly some of the worst African American slave conditions and

also having lived in the White House are two quite different lives to lead, that Keckley

experienced all in her long life of 89 years. She is able to tell her story while incorporating

African American and American literary traditions and give them to the public for their

knowledge even for us today.

John Boyle O’Reilly

1844-1890

An Irish-born poet, fiction writer and journalist, O’Reilly was deported to

Western Australia for his participation in the Irish Republic Brotherhood better known as

Fenians, which was a secret society of rebels who were armed for an uprising against the

British. Once he was able to escape to the United States, he became a foremost

spokesperson for the newly Irish community and culture; this was done through his

editorship position of The Pilot, a Bostonian newspaper.

O’Reilly was born near Drogheda, Ireland near the early stages of the Great Irish

Famine, in which Ireland was still under British rule and many Irish people were

acrimoniously resentful of the British rule. O’Reilly’s family was very vocal and patriotic

during the nationalist movement. At the young age of thirteen, his older brother

contracted tuberculosis (TB) allowing O’Reilly to take after apprenticeship at the local

newspaper. When he was fifteen he moved to Preston, Lancashire to live with his aunt

and uncle and began working at the local newspaper in Preston. Just a year later, he

enrolled in the 11th

Lancashire Rifle Volunteers and received some military training, once

returning to Ireland in 1863, he enlisted in the 10th

Hussars in Dublin.

It is unknown when O’Reilly joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Where he

used his energies for recruiting more Fenians, he brought in more than 80 new members.

In late 1865, the Fenians were no longer a secret society and could no longer evade

detection from the British authorities. Once, captured by the British he was sentenced to

twenty years, though according to some sources he was actually sentenced to death. After

serving two years in a British prison, he was deported to Western Australia where he was

moved from one prison to Bunbury.

In 1869, a friend and Catholic priest, Father Patrick McCabe was able to arrange

for O’Reilly to escape Australia. After many setbacks with many stops at various

colonies and weather, The Bombay docked in Philadelphia on November 23, 1869. Once

in the United States, he settled in Charlestown, a community that had a large Irish

community. He didn’t take long for him to find work at The Pilot.

In 1872 he married Mary Murphy, who was also a journalist for the Young

Crusaders and went by the penname Agnes Smiley. Together they had four daughters,

their daughter Agnes O’Reilly went on to marry William Ernest Hocking.

O’Reilly’s first book Songs from the Southern Seas was published in 1873. Over

the course of fifteen years he was able to publish three different collections of poetry,

novels and treaties on health and exercise. Though his most popular work was poetry and

was paid to write poems for important occasions.

You can find O’Reilly’s work next to other various foreign-American poets,

novelists for his use of words and imagery. O’Reilly’s popularity has propelled him into

the 21st century. He has been noted as former President John F. Kennedy’s favorite poet,

and Irish band U2’s song Van Diemen’s Land is said to be dedicated to O’Reilly.