Public humanities/Featured
Tuesday's featured articles[edit | edit source]
Different articles are featured here each day of the week. Visit again tomorrow to discover new public humanities resources.
Learn more about the Florida citrus industry worker Horace Thompson at Federal Writers' Project - Life Histories
Bessie Mae Boatwright
Boatwright, along with her four younger siblings, was raised by her mother, Cora Boatwright, who was also prostitute. Boatwright was six years older than her sister, Margie; eight years older than her next sister, Ruth; nine years older than her only brother, Billy, and 12 years older than her youngest sister, Ruby Lee. Billy was crippled in an unknown manner. Billy was crippled in an unknown manner, however his benefitted the family — he would receive a free business course because of his disability.
Boatwright frequently assisted her parents in bootlegging as a child. It is unclear whether her parents were ever caught for the act, but Boatwright assumed the majority of the responsibility as she got older.
When Boatwright was young, her parents’ marriage was defined by both verbal and physical conflict. The Boatwright parents often fought, especially when drunk.
Learn more about Bessie Mae Boatwright at Federal Writers' Project - Life Histories
Elmer Roberts
Roberts was made the chief of the Associated Press office in Paris, France on January 7, 1911. His work here mostly included dictating what stories were published, where his reporters were looking for stories, and ensuring his branch was on top of all of the most important news. Roberts often received correspondence from AP workers in America dictating to him what stories should be covered and complaining about other news sources being faster.
During the WWI, Roberts and his staff reported all the defeats and victories of the troops. Roberts also kept an extensive record of the happenings of the war in a personal journal.
Learn more about Elmer Roberts at World War I -- Life Histories
Elizabeth Keckly
Elizabeth Keckly was a remarkable individual who was born into slavery in 1818 just south of the major market center of Petersburg, Virginia. She learned her craft – sewing – from her mother, who was an expert seamstress enslaved in the Burwell family. When Reverend Burwell, Keckly’s master and half-brother (they shard a father) relocated to Hillsborogh, North Carolina, in 1832, she soon followed. Six years later, Anna Burwell, Keckly’s mistress, started a school for young girls in the family home, with an already over-worked Keckly charged as the sole servant. In the Burwell household, Keckly was subject to physical and sexual abuse. She gave birth to her only child, a son, as a result of being molested by a white acquaintance of the Burwells.
Learn more about Elizabeth Keckly at The Crafting Freedom Project