Author Description

Conventional Wisdom Tells Us That Marriage Was Illegal For African Americans During The Antebellum Era, And That If People Married At All, Their Vows Were Tenuous Ones: Until Death Or Distance Do Us Part. It Is An Impression That Imbues Beliefs About Black Families To This Day. But It's A Perception Primarily Based On Documents Produced By Abolitionists, The State, Or Other Partisans. It Doesn't Tell The Whole Story. Drawing On A Trove Of Less Well-known Sources Including Family Histories, Folk Stories, Memoirs, Sermons, And Especially The Fascinating Writings From The Afro-protestant Press,'til Death Or Distance Do Us Part Offers A Radically Different Perspective On Antebellum Love And Family Life. Frances Smith Foster Applies The Knowledge She's Developed Over A Lifetime Of Reading And Thinking. Advocating Both The Potency Of Skepticism And The Importance Of Story-telling, Her Book Shows The Way Toward A More Genuine, More Affirmative Understanding Of African American Romance, Both Then And Now.