Archival Report from Sabina Peck, BAAS Postgraduate Travel Grant recipient

[vc_row margin_bottom=”15″][vc_column][dt_banner image_id=”13660″ bg_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.2)” min_height=”270″][/dt_banner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][dt_quote]I’m very grateful to have been awarded a BAAS Postgraduate travel grant which has enabled me to research the 1977 National Women’s Conference, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Rights and interview six women who were active in work around reproductive rights during the 1970s and 80s, writes Sabina Beck.[/dt_quote][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]I spent just under six weeks in the USA, visiting the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the National Archives in Washington DC., and the Tamiment and Columbia Libraries in New York City. In addition, I held a number of oral history interviews with former feminist activists, in interviews that ranged from 45 minutes to over two hours. This has felt like the most interesting and dynamic research that I did!

I was in Madison, Wisconsin for just under two weeks, primarily visiting the Wisconsin Historical Society Archives.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]While there, I looked at a number of collections, including the Marlene Gerber Fried papers, the National Women’s Conference Committee papers, the Sarah Harder Papers, the Sharon Lieberman papers and the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights/Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice records. The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Rights papers have proved most valuable so far, and I was lucky to gain access to them, as they are restricted.

I was in Washington DC for a little over a week, and visited the National Archives in Maryland. I accessed a significant number of official state reports for the 1977 National Women’s Conference, which will be a case study in my thesis. In addition, I was able to listen to and copy a lot of oral history ‘vox pops’ taken during the conference.

In New York, I visited two archives – the Tamiment at NYU, and Columbia. I spent the majority of my time at the Tamiment accessing the Leslie Cagan papers and the Karen Stamm papers. At Columbia I accessed the Bella Abzug papers. However, a combination of factors meant that I did not manage to get through all of the material that was available. It would be worth making a short trip to New York on my next research trip to look at the materials that I didn’t get to.

While in the USA I also interviewed six women who were active in work around reproductive rights during the 1970s and 80s. Almost all of them had links with at least one of the events that I’m using as case studies, and they all at least had links with organizations or groups that were central to those events. I interviewed Frances Kissling, Sarah Schulman, Meredith Tax, Margie Fine, Karen Stamm and Marilyn Katz. These interviews were incredibly interesting and valuable, and have opened up avenues which may lead to further interviews with other networks of activists – which could have the potential to be a fascinating project of its own accord.

I’m very grateful to have been awarded a BAAS travel grant; without one, this trip would have had to be considerably shorter and less enjoyable. It has undoubtedly allowed me to have a more effective and fruitful research trip, which will be complemented and built upon by a further trip in Autumn 2016.

Sabina Peck is a PhD student at the University of Leeds.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row margin_bottom=”15″][vc_column][dt_banner image_id=”13655″ bg_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.21)” min_height=”270″][/dt_banner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row margin_bottom=”10″][vc_column width=”1/2″][dt_quote]The Eccles Centre Visiting Canadian Fellowship allowed me to explore the British Library’s valuable materials on conservation and sound materials for my research into the life and works of ecologist Dr. William W.H. ‘Bill’ Gunn, writes Laura Jean Cameron. My project represents the first extensive examination of Gunn, a figure who shaped the fields of ecology, environmental consultancy and sound recording in a formative period for the conservation of Canadian natures.[/dt_quote][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]First, thanks very much to the Eccles Centre for the Visiting Canadian Fellow Award which was ‘offered to help support one month of research at the British Library by a senior scholar from Canada’: this was a wonderful opportunity. With the assistance of excellent British Library employees, such as Cheryl Tipp of the Sound Archive, I was largely successful in realizing my aims concerning my main line of research on the life geography of ecologist, Dr. William W.H. ‘Bill’ Gunn (1913-1984), an international pioneer and key popularizer of ‘nature’ sound recordings. In addition, I made an exciting surprise discovery in a related area of environmental history research: it has become the basis of a book in its own right.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]My research program for the period of this award mainly focused on the life geography of ecologist, Dr. William W.H. ‘Bill’ Gunn (1913-1984), an international pioneer and key popularizer of ‘nature’ sound recordings. As the creator of high quality field recordings, including the wildlife soundtracks for CBC’s ‘The Nature of Things’ for over twenty years, Gunn recorded soundscapes across Canada as well as locations in the Galapagos Islands, East Africa, Sri Lanka and Costa Rica. In addition to his founding roles in several nature conservation organizations, he was one of Canada’s first and most respected environmental consultants. Gunn’s research in ethology and migration was actively applied to public education, management and industry, including the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry and the design of Toronto’s CN Tower. This research, which demonstrates the potential of geographical approaches to issues of science, fieldwork and subjectivity, represents the first extensive examination of Gunn´s life and work which shaped fields of ecology, environmental consultancy and sound recording in a formative period for the conservation of Canadian natures. The Eccles award allowed me to explore the British Library’s textual materials on conservation and early sound recordists as well as valuable sound materials, such as the BBC radio programs using Gunn’s recordings held by the British Library Sound Archive, and material from the archives of BBC radio producer Jeffery Boswall. There were numerous transnational links to explore, and I was able to listen to the Library’s holdings of interviews with the acclaimed French sound artist Jean Claude Roche before going to interview him myself. Gunn’s mentors included broadcaster and sound recordist Ludwig Koch who played a parallel role in Britain by encouraging British appreciation of wildlife: the Library has excellent materials on Koch both in sound and text.  Building on methods developed in my study of ecologist Sir Arthur Tansley, the interplay of archival analysis, fieldwork and oral history methods will be integral to developing a well-contextualized life geography. As mentioned, a component of the project involves the critical analysis of Gunn’s sound productions including those held by the British Library and such work is supported by my Sonic Arts of Place Lab and creative collaboration with musicologist/sound artist Matt Rogalsky.  Encouraged by Cheryl Tipp and Philip Hatfield, Rogalsky and I are proposing a sound installation, possibly in the Library’s outdoor courtyard, that would utilize Gunn material from the B.L. Sound Archive.

In addition to the above work, I discovered correspondence between a key figure in Canadian nature conservation, C. Gordon Hewitt, and Marie C. Stopes, paleobotanist, writer and birth control activist. The edited collection of letters along with a thoroughly researched introduction (provided largely by materials at the B.L.) will: 1) provide transnational context to the lives and works of these remarkable individuals and their relationship, 2) shed light on the intriguing character of Charles Gordon Hewitt, and 3) explore the life of Marie Stopes in relation to her experiences in Canada, including her nation-wide tours in 1909 and her 1910 commission from the Geological Survey. The B.L. material led to me believe further material might still be with the Stopes family descendants: a trip to Birmingham led to more discoveries (in the Stopes-Roe attic) and a trip to Dorchester/Portland Bill allowed me to explore the Stopes Museum and meet with a local Stopes expert. As well – and connecting back to the Gunn research – while in Portland Bill, I visited the Portland Bill Bird Observatory, founded by naturalist Sir Peter Scott, for whom Gunn provided bird recordings for an LP project. Additional research in Cambridge University Library benefitted both projects.

My visits to the British Library significantly contributed to two projects(!), results of which will be disseminated in the form of articles, lectures, teaching materials and a book about Gunn that, akin to my publication, ‘Openings’ (McGill-Queen’s) with its complementary hypermedia essay, will address both eyes and ears. For outreach beyond the academy, Dr. Rogalsky and I plan to co-author a one-hour audio documentary and prepare materials for an installation telling Gunn’s life story in sound and site. Thank you again for an extremely productive research adventure.

Laura Jean Cameron is Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at Queen’s University, Ontario, Canada.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row margin_bottom=”15″][vc_column][dt_banner image_id=”13647″ bg_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.2)” min_height=”350″][/dt_banner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][dt_quote]The digitized newspapers in the British Library reveal how mid-nineteenth century British society viewed visiting African Americans, and can also reveal strategies of ‘performative’ resistance from African Americans, writes Hannah-Rose Murray, Eccles Centre Postgraduate Travel Award recipient 2015.[/dt_quote][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]My five visits to the British Library were instrumental to my PhD thesis. Currently, I am examining the influence and legacy of African Americans on British society and the myriad ways they fought British racism from 1830-1895. African Americans engaged in a strategy I term ‘adaptive resistance’, a multi-pronged oppositional strategy enacted via a medium of performance, by which African Americans challenged racial and gender stereotypes and won support for abolition. This resistance strategy employed both[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]assimilation and dissonance as African Americans worked to secure their political agenda. They incorporated mimicry, minstrelsy, anglophilia, and exhibitions of their scars into their performances to create an aspect of the familiar to appeal to British audiences. To do this, black activists used language, images and actions as their weapons. Black activists also practiced deliberate dissent against typical Victorian norms, from rejecting racism and racial science, asserting black masculinity and refusing to downplay the violence of slavery. They could use both in the same lecture, walking a tense tightrope between the two, negotiating and pushing the boundaries of both to fight traditional racial stereotypes.

As explained in my application for this award, the main bulk of my sources are digitized newspapers from the British Library. They can reveal so much about British society in the mid nineteenth century but also how people viewed these visiting African Americans. The reports of their speeches are an important medium in which we can reveal hidden voices from the archive, and allow these men and women to speak for themselves.

I have been struggling to complete a chapter for my thesis which centers around Josiah Henson. In 1877, Henson visited Britain and was invited to meet Queen Victoria in Windsor Palace – he was believed to be the inspiration for the character of ‘Uncle Tom’ in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and received nation-wide fame in Britain as a result. To ensure the success of his visit, Henson capitalized on this association and received over two thousand invitations to speak. He was a powerful speaker, and newspaper correspondents waxed lyrical about his impressive stage presence. One reported that Henson, “like a skillful player upon a harp, wrought upon their feelings”, sometimes “provoking them to laughter” and soon after “relating a touching incident moving them to tears.”[1] Word of Henson’s arrival – and speaking ability – spread across the country: in a meeting in Sheffield, hundreds of people were turned away as there was not even standing room left to hear him speak;[2] and his narrative sold tens of thousands of copies.

I wanted to learn more about Henson’s visit here and read several newspaper articles pertaining to his trip. I also perused his updated autobiography and a ‘Young People’s Edition’ of his narrative, written and illustrated especially for children. This is a fascinating book held by the Library, and as far as I can tell unique among visiting African Americans. Henson’s growing disillusionment with the epithet of ‘Uncle Tom’ and denial of the romanticisation of slavery in the British press illustrate his resistance to British racism. These volumes and newspaper articles are crucial to the completion of my chapter, which I can now write over the summer.

In terms of other work consulted, I transcribed some poetry about Frederick Douglass from Laura Wilkes’ In Memoriam to Frederick Douglass. Once my PhD is completed I will write an article/book about abolitionist poetry, and I have added these poems to my small collection of poetry I have found in Victorian newspapers. This is an understudied subject and would prove to be an enriching piece of work.

Furthermore, my supervisor Professor Celeste-Marie Bernier and I have begun to collaborate together on a future book project. This volume will be an anthology of narratives, pamphlets, speeches and letters published by African Americans and black Britons in the nineteenth century. Whilst we will include small works by Frederick Douglass and Josiah Henson (two celebrities on the British stage) we want to include lesser-known works that will highlight the breadth of written work by black authors in the UK. I read Zilpha Elaw’s memoirs of her journey in Britain, as well as the narratives of William Jackson, Lewis Smith, John Lewis and the ‘Horrors of the Virginian Slave Trade’ by John Hawkins Simpson, who interviewed a black woman called Dinah about her experience as an enslaved person in Virginia. I also found an incredible broadsheet written by an African-American named John Coombs, with a very short narrative and poetry surrounding it. This was published in 1861 and is unlike anything I have seen before in the field of slave narratives. This – together with Dinah’s story – will form the centrepiece of our monograph.

I am indebted to the British Library for this award, as I would not have been able to finish my PhD without it. I am also grateful that I could use the collections to access material for a future book project that will bring forgotten stories to the light, as well as improving the chance of a steady career in the future.

Endnotes

[1] Sheffield and Rotherham Independent, Thursday 25 January 1877.

[2] Sheffield and Rotherham Independent, Saturday 3 February 1877.

Hannah-Rose Murray is a PhD student at the University of Nottingham.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row margin_bottom=”15″][vc_column][dt_banner image_id=”13452″ bg_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.2)” min_height=”270″][/dt_banner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row margin_bottom=”12″][vc_column width=”1/2″][dt_quote]Accessing the reports of cartographer William Gerard de Brahm, housed at the British Library, has contributed significantly to my current research into the environmental history of the Southeast, writes Gregory D. Smithers, Eccles Centre Fellow 2015.[/dt_quote][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]William Gerard de Brahm’s “Report of the General Survey in the Southern District of North America” (1764) provides historians with a uniquely detailed series of observations about the ecological and economic opportunities awaiting European colonists in what is today the Southeastern United States. Critical to de Brahm’s report were his observations of the rivers, streams, and swamps – the waterscapes – of the Southeast.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]De Brahm, a German cartographer and engineer, produced a detailed “Report” following his appointment as surveyor-general in the British colony of Georgia. His observations detailed not only the economic opportunities that awaited settler colonists on the rich soils of the “Southern District,” but underscored the importance of the waterways of the region – riverine environments controlled by Native American people.

Indeed, de Brahm became acutely aware that the land and waterscapes of the Southeast were dominated, and in many cases controlled, by indigenous communities. So too were colonial officials. In the mid eighteenth century, the British decided to divide the governance of, and diplomacy with, Native Americans, into two geopolitical regions: the “Northern District” and the “Southern District.” In the Southern District, which de Brahm made extensive travels through, he encountered the Seminolskees (Seminoles) throughout Florida and larger tribal groups, such as the Cherokees, in the interior and mountainous regions of the Southeast. While generally dismissive of the civilizational attainments of Native Americans, de Brahm made no secret of his belief that these “savages” occupied some of the most fertile lands and navigable rivers and streams in all of North America.

In South Carolina , for example, de Brahm enumerated four streams – the “Wackamaw, Sante, Port Royal Savannas” – and twenty-two rivers – “Yatkins, Black, Catabaw, Congaree, Broad, Pakolet, Tyger, Linwells, Little, Great Saludee, Litte Saludee, Cooper, Ashly, North Edisto, South Edisto, Ashipoo, Cambahee, Pocotalego, Chulifini, Coosahatchee, May, Long Cane.” According to de Brahm, the waterscapes of these rivers and streams provided settlers from Georgia and the Carolinas with vital transportation arteries. They also yielded the raw materials for the manufacture of “earthen vessels.” As de Brahm recorded in his report, “The Sands upon the Rivers and Streams &c if low (commly called Swamp or Marsh Land:) they both are of a very rich black mould with a F[o]undation of blue Clay.”

In de Brahm’s eyes, the waterscapes of Southeastern North America nurtured an “American Canaan.” The Native peoples who long occupied the lands and traveled the region’s rivers had squandered an opportunity to improve – or in de Brahm’s words, “manufacture” – nature’s bounty. This prompted de Brahm to quip that “This Country seems longing for the Hands of Industry.”

William Gerard de Brahm’s two-volume report, housed at the British Library, provides environmental historians with a detailed rendering of how mid-eighteenth-century Europeans saw the land and waterscapes of the Southeast. That knowledge was produced in the service of settler colonial expansion, wealth accumulation, and good health. As de Brahm observed from Florida, “The great Weight of the Sea inclosed [sic] within the vast extent of the Mexican Gulf is set in Agitation by the Trade Winds … whereby the famous Florida Stream is supposed to be effected, and thence called the Gulf Stream, by which Nature conduces both to the Health, and Conveniency of that Region.”

Gregory D. Smithers is Associate Professor in the Department of History at Virginia Commonwealth University.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row margin_bottom=”15″][vc_column][dt_banner image_id=”13947″ bg_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.1)” min_height=”270″][/dt_banner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][dt_quote]One of the most pressing concerns currently facing the HE sector in the UK today is how to improve and maintain records on equality and diversity. Discover how BAAS, the leading association for American Studies in the UK, is helping to develop an academic environment that prioritises equality and diversity in all its forms.[/dt_quote][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]One of the most pressing concerns currently facing the HE sector in the UK today is how to improve and maintain records on equality and diversity. It is a question that is both philosophically and institutionally challenging, requiring serious consideration and active response. Within the broad, interdisciplinary field of American Studies – which continues to produce exciting scholarship on issues of class, gender, sexuality, and race – the issue of how to ensure equal opportunities and diverse representation[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]across the board is an important one. BAAS is initiating a series of conversations and initiatives in the coming months to work with its membership on how best to tackle inequalities in Higher Education.

Since becoming Chair of BAAS in April, Professor Brian Ward has, alongside Kate Dossett, Chair of the Development and Education Subcommittee, sought to prioritise this question of diversity. A first, and important, step has been to co-opt Nicole King as Equality & Diversity Representative on the Development Subcommittee. To ensure that this position is given the significance it is due, BAAS will move towards making it a fixed role for a member of the executive (rather than through co-opting), thereby institutionalising the need to continually monitor and act on issues of equality and diversity.

Equalities work cannot be the work of individuals and so at the Executive Committee meeting held in June at King’s College London, it was decided that each subcommittee, as well as the executive committee, will make it a priority to look into how their work can respond to and shape new initiatives in equality and diversity.

We will also be looking to amend the BAAS constitution and relevant sections of the website to reiterate our commitment to monitoring, learning about and promoting best practice regarding issues of equality and diversity. As scholars, we all recognise the power that the language we use can have when it comes to creating safe spaces, changing behaviour and challenging bad practice. In 2017 we will be launching a demographic survey of BAAS members that will consider the state and future health of American Studies but also ask members to engage in a dialogue about their experience, concerns, and priorities regarding equality and diversity.  It will be adapted from the Royal Historical Society’s Report on Gender Equality to shed light on the key issues facing American Studies scholars, including questions focused on equality and diversity, in addition to sections concerned with the field’s broader development in other areas.

There are no quick fixes, nor easy answers. Institutionalised sexism and racism within HE will not be solved with a few strokes of a keyboard. It is important, however, that BAAS, as the leading association for American Studies in the UK, should help develop an academic environment that prioritises equality and diversity in all its forms. As always, we welcome the suggestions and advice of BAAS members, so please get in touch if you have any thoughts on these important matters.

Contributed by Ben Offiler. Ben is currently Lecturer in History at Sheffield Hallam University and BAAS Early Career Representative. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row margin_bottom=”15″][vc_column][dt_banner image_id=”13442″ bg_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.2)” min_height=”270″][/dt_banner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row margin_bottom=”15″][vc_column][dt_quote]Alan Rice reports on the symposium Art, Politics and Performance in the Black Atlantic 1789-2016 that took place from April 14-15^th 2016 and was supported by the BAAS Small Conference Support Grant.[/dt_quote][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Institute for Black Atlantic Research (IBAR) at the University of Central Lancashire held an interdisciplinary academic event to showcase Transnational figures in historical Black Atlantic culture and to highlight important new figures and movements in African Atlantic culture. An exciting feature of the event were two performances, one by Liverpool-based, Tayo Aluko, who presented Call Mr Robeson, a show that highlighted the career of the seminal performer, actor and political activist, Paul Robeson.

Aluko’s rich Nigerian baritone voice highlighted the power of Robeson’s voice and personality in a play that also foregrounded his oppression by the American State and his reaction to it. The other performance was by Benbo Productions from Dublin who brought their show The Cambria, which showcased Frederick Douglass’s liberating sojourn to Ireland in 1845.

Donal O’Kelly and Sorcha Fox’s wonderful renditions of a multitude of characters including Douglass captivated the audience. As well as theatre, the symposium showcased young black Scarborough-based artist Jade Montserrat who presented her video performances of Paris domiciled dancer, Josephine Baker’s Rainbow Tribe, that explored Baker’s adoption of a multi-racial family of children.

The academic element of the symposium interweaved amidst these artistic elements and included keynotes from George Lipsitz and Barbara Tomlinson from University of California, Santa Barbara’s Black Studies Department who discussed contemporary race relations in the United States, especially police violence against black people. Other keynotes were Celeste Marie Bernier from Nottingham on portrayals of Douglass and his family and Lisa Merrill from Hofstra, New York on black bodies in antebellum spaces.

The audience overall was around 30 people, with academics from Swansea to Durham and American Literature and culture undergraduates and postgraduates supported through BAAS funding.

Alan Rice is Professor in English and American Studies at the University of Central Lancashire.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row margin_bottom=”15″][vc_column][dt_banner image_id=”5762″ bg_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.2)” min_height=”270″][/dt_banner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][dt_quote]U.S. Studies Online is pleased to introduce Katharina Donn, the new Assistant Editor for European Relations. Find out more about Katharina’s plans for the role and the rationale behind the creation of the position in this post.[/dt_quote][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]What is the new Assistant Editor role at U.S. Studies Online? Why was it created? 

Jade and Todd, Co-Editors of U.S. Studies Online: The Assistant Editor for European Relations role centres on extending and establishing relationships with European networks and scholars. Through this position we are hoping to build on the success of past collaborations[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]and to widen the scope of research, and the geography of our readership. It will play an important part in amplifying the European voice, which has become even more crucial in the post-referendum climate. We envision that U.S. Studies Online will use these relations and links to feature regular posts from across Europe, further supported by a specific ‘Euro-centric’ series later on in our publishing calendar.

Katharina brings extensive trans-European experience to this position, which is further complimented by her astute and creative thinking, and editorial talent. We hope that this marks the beginning of the next stage of U.S. Studies Online’s outreach, and will help to establish our position within wider European scholarly frameworks whilst also strengthening the voice of Postgraduates and ECRs.

Katharina, what are your short-term and long-term plans for the role?

Katharina Donn: My role centres on commissioning posts written by an international researcher or related to a European topic, and contributing to a USSO strand at the next BAAS and EAAS conferences. The position was launched with a call for contributions on the topic of transnationalising American Studies, enquiring how to define key concepts central issues such as the ‘border’, ‘cosmopolitanism’, ‘centre’ and ‘periphery’, both within and beyond the Americas. Graduate representatives of American Studies associations across Europe have been invited to contribute, with colleagues in Cadiz writing as we speak.

While awaiting responses, the European contribution to USSO in July will focus on current events. In a Brexit interview, Professor Leif Johan Eliasson, author of America’s Perceptions of Europe (2010), offers his evaluation of the EU referendum, his expectations on the impact of transatlantic ties, and a comparison with similar populist tendencies in the US. Where research resources are concerned, I am also in the process of putting together a list of exchange and research opportunities in Europe.

With an eye to the future, the focus will be on the BAAS 2017 and particularly the EAAS 2018 conference. These will offer opportunities to initiate international dialogues beyond the USSO blog, whilst developing the USSO spirit of collaborative enquiry in a conference setting.

Katharina Donn is a lecturer and post-doctoral academic fellow at the University of Augsburg, and currently a visiting research fellow at the UCL Institute of Advanced Studies. This summer, term she will be joining the English Department at the University of Texas at Austin as Visiting Professor. Her research focuses on trauma studies, and her first book, A Poetics of Trauma after 9/11: Representing Vulnerability in a Digitized Present ( Routledge) is forthcoming this year. She is also defining a post-doctoral project, “Risking Thought. Modernist Practices of Experimental Prose Writing,” exploring textualities on the borderlines between genres as practices of critique. Her work in public outreach includes a co-editing role with the literary magazine Litro, and she is a post-doctoral tutor with the Charity “Brilliant Club.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row margin_bottom=”15″][vc_column][dt_banner image_id=”13151″ bg_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.17)” min_height=”270″][/dt_banner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][dt_quote]Thanks to the support of the Eccles Centre, I was able to examine books on the American and British Black Arts Movements, and support my argument that the London home of Dutch multilingual writer, translator, and anthologist of African American poetry Rosey Pool was a hub for black culture in the 1950s and early 1960s, writes Lonneke Geerlings, Eccles Centre Postgraduate Fellow 2015.[/dt_quote][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Thanks to the support of the Eccles Centre, I have been able to visit the British Library for three weeks in December 2015. The research that I have been able to do has been a vital part of my PhD research entitled “The Role of Dutch Mediators and African American Actors in the Black Theatre Scene of London in the 1950s”. My PhD thesis focuses on Rosey E. Pool (1905-1971), a Dutch multilingual writer, translator, and anthologist of African American poetry, of Jewish descent. During the Second World War she worked as a teacher (Anne Frank was amongst her pupils), was a member of a German-Jewish resistance[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]group, and escaped from the Westerbork Nazi transit camp. Her experiences during the war transformed her interest in Black Poetry into a political strive, and she became involved in the American and British Black Arts Movements. Pool moved to Highgate, London, in 1949, and frequently visited the United States. At the British Library, I have focused on her period in London.

I have compared Pool to Paul Breman (1931-2008), another Dutch anthologist of African American poetry, also living in London. Both Rosey Pool and Paul Breman contributed to making London a contact zone (Pratt 1991) for African Americans, especially in the field of literature and theatre. Here, I will focus on Rosey Pool. Pool was one of the few people of her family to survive the Holocaust. In London she felt at home again, she wrote in her autobiography: ‘London has gained warmth through the presence of decolonized immigrants. […] [T]he great capital has gained colour, tone, and relaxation.’ Through correspondence and her travels, Rosey Pool formed a life line between her London home and various African American celebrities, such as Langston Hughes, W.E.B. Du Bois and his wife Shirley Graham, Owen Dodson, and many others. Pool maintained contact with various organisations in London, such as the West African Arts Club (with Seth Cudjoe and Ben Enwonwu), the Negro Theatre Workshop (with Pearl Connor and Edric Connor), the Royal Court Theatre (Wole Soyinka, Oscar Lewenstein, and George Devine).

As these names suggest, this research touches many histories. In the 1950s and early 1960s London was an ‘in-between space’ (Homi Bhabha 1994:1-2) for both immigrants and temporary citizens. London often served as a training ground of political education. Writing transnational histories such as these always provides a challenge. You have to get acquainted with multiple historiographies that are often written within national contexts. Much of the sources I needed were not available in the Netherlands. Therefore I am very grateful for the Eccles Centre, BAAS, and the British Library. My time at the BL was spent examining books on the American and British Black Arts Movements, with Rosey Pool’s London home as a hub for black culture in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Rosey Pool’s contact were often not just friendships, but also formed the foundation for cultural and political mobilisation. Both Pool and Breman actively pursued both their own careers and the careers of others, while simultaneously creating political awareness. They both edited poetry anthologies, organised poetry recitals, and Pool also participated in theatre performances. As Paul Gilroy has pointed out (Gilroy in: Ugwu 1995:12), the link between black cultural practice and political aspirations has been a long tradition. Cultural practices have been highly significant in the ‘claiming of voice’ (bell hooks in: Ugwu 1995:212) for people in the Black Diaspora, and often a first step in emancipating – both in the U.S. and the U.K.

The 1947 performance of the American social protest play Deep Are the Roots is a good example. Set in the spring of 1945 in the parlour of a retired U.S. Senator, the play revolves around the deep-rooted (hence the title) racism and prejudice in the Deep South. In 1945 and 1946 the African American actor Gordon Heath (1918-1991) played the leading role in the Broadway adaption of the play, turning him into a Broadway star. Following its success, the play came to the Wyndham’s Theatre in London with the same cast. The theatre magazine The Stage noted in an article – simply called ‘Negro’ – that the presence of African Americans in the British theatres made ‘us feel more kindly towards them, it is obvious that we respect them as artists and are pleased to see them in our midst.’ Perhaps somewhat naively the writer emphasised that the ‘colour-bar’ was not an issue at all: ‘Both are artists and that is all that matters.’ Heath himself wryly remarked that when he came to Britain in 1947, ‘the “colour problem” was considered in England as someone else’s business’, reflecting the dominant, white voice. But to the black community in London performances such as Deep Are the Roots  meant much more. The American ‘race problem’ was used as a by-proxy way of raising political consciousness amongst the existing of colonial students, non-white immigrants, and even to African Americans themselves, passing through London. The period before the Nottingham/ Notting Hill riots of 1958 is often perceived as an ‘age of innocence’ in British historiography. As James Procter has argued, Britain’s early post-war black communities were in no sense ‘pre-political’ (Procter 2000:15).

Throughout the late 1940s and 1950s, London served as an eye-opener for African Americans who visited the city. Gordon Heath for example, grew accustomed to the liberal climate in the London theatres. When he occasionally revisited his home country, it always shocked him to be treated as a second-class citizen (Bourne 2001:103). Pool and Heath met in Heath’s dressing room in Wyndham’s Theatre in London 1947. He was amazed by her knowledge: ‘How did this roly-poly Dutch lady who had never set foot in America come by her firmly-held opinions, her acute perceptions, her formidable intuitions, her informed passions?’ They soon became friends and kept in touch. In 1958, they both appeared on Dutch TV, in a Dutch translation of the BBC TV drama For the Defence (Stanley Mann, 1956). Heath played the role of a lawyer assigned to defend a white teenager who was accused of starting a race riot. For the performance Heath learned Dutch, and Pool taught him the correct pronunciation. Through theatre performances the Dutch audience was informed about racial issues abroad, and also making them aware of racial issues at home.

Rosey Pool, herself a victim of racial persecution by the Nazis, made the fight against racism her life mission. Her international activities show the intersectional scope of this research. Pool held several jobs at the BBC: between 1954 and 1957 she was involved in the BBC’s Dutch programmes. She also presented programmes on African American poetry, simply called ‘Negro Poetry’. In October 1952 Pool wrote to her friend Langston Hughes:

‘Did I or didn’t I tell you that our cherished child the Negro Poetry Programme in the BBC Third is coming off at last? This BBC is the strangest of broadcasting organisations I ever met and the Third Programme although a wonderful thing is rather Bohemian in its administration. This means that programmes are recorded and filed and just do as good English people do: they take their place in the queue. Well, at last we have reached our turn. We shall go on the air on two consecutive nights Thursday 13th November [1952] … and Friday 14th… Now keep your fingers crossed for all of us.’ (Anneke Buys 1986, n.p.)

In the years that followed Pool organised a variety of activities in London, all focusing on black poetry and black theatre. In September 1958 a poetry recital was held at the Royal Court Theatre, with poetry selected by Rosey Pool and Harlem Renaissance celebrity Eric Walrond. When Langston Hughes’ play Black Nativity was performed in the United Kingdom in 1962 (and again in 1965), Pool served as his ‘eyes on the ground’. She collected all the reviews of the play and sent them to Hughes.

The ‘invasion’ of African American actors on the British stage in this period was also an important reason for black British actors to organise themselves as well (Chambers 2011:112). On the one hand the references to American segregation made British actors more aware of the colour bar. In 1947 the play Anna Lucasta was performed with an all African American cast at His Majesty’s Theatre. Shortly afterwards the Negro Theatre Company was founded by Edric Connor. A somewhat similar organisation, Negro Theatre Workshop, was founded in 1961 by Pearl Connor. Rosey Pool was named as one of its patrons (‘Letters. The Negro Theatre Workshop Trust’, The Stage and Television Today, 2 December 1965, p. 11). On the other hand, African American actors were sometimes met with hostility, especially when they were more successful than their British peers. The Trinidadian playwright Errol John (1924-1988), for example, felt that his plays couldn’t succeed without having Americans in the cast of his stage productions (Stephen Bourne 2001:64).

The findings from my time at the British Library are a fundamental part of my doctoral work, and I therefore wish to thank the BAAS/Eccles Centre for their generous support.

Lonneke Geerlings is a PhD student at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row margin_top=”15″][vc_column][ultimate_carousel title_text_typography=”” slides_on_desk=”1″ slides_on_tabs=”1″ slides_on_mob=”1″][dt_teaser image_id=”13150″ lightbox=”true” style=”2″]Rosey E. Pool with actors of Langston Hughes’ play Black Nativity, during a tour through England (ca. 1965). The picture includes Frances Steadman, Marion Williams, Alberta Carter (together ‘The Stars of Faith’), Rosey E. Pool, Vinnette Carroll, Alex Bradford and his Bradford Singers, and Madeleine Bell. Source: Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam.[/dt_teaser][/ultimate_carousel][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Dear BAAS members,

Can I ask you to send me information about noteworthy achievements by BAAS members, such as:

• promotions
• grants, scholarships and fellowships
• retirements
• information about institutional or programme development

It would be good to keep track of and publicize this kind of news throughout the year in the quarterly newsletter American Studies in Britain and it will help me to prepare my periodic reports to the Executive Committee and report to the AGM in April.

Please send your messages to: brian.ward@northumbria.ac.uk

Many thanks,
Brian

British Association for American Studies

Minutes 284th

Minutes of the 284th meeting of the Executive Committee, held at Queen’s University Belfast on Thursday 7 April 2016 at 9.30.

1. Present: Sue Currell (Chair), Jenny Terry (Secretary), Brian Ward, Simon Hall, Rachael Alexander, Martin Halliwell, Joe Street, Uta Balbier, Nick Witham, Sinéad Moynihan, Doug Haynes, Ben Offiler, Katie McGettigan.

Apologies: Cara Rodway (Treasurer), Kate Dossett, Celeste-Marie Bernier, Bevan Sewell.

In attendance: Jenny Terry.

2. Minutes of the Previous Meeting

These were accepted as a true record and will now go on the website.

3. Matters Arising

None

4. Review of Action List

The Chair asked the Exec to comment on the status of their Action List duties.

JT reported that she had checked with Keith Lawrey regarding executive members putting in for awards. During their time serving on the executive, members should not put in for BAAS awards (Eccles and Ambassador awards are a separate case). If we continue to permit members to enter for the BAAS Book Prize because of the long nature of monograph publication cycles, in the event of the award going to a member of the executive we should give notice of our actions to the Charity Commission.

All other Action List duties will be addressed under the relevant section below.

5. Chair’s Business (SC reporting)

(a)        Chair’s activities, meetings and correspondence (January 2016 – April 2016)

• SC acted as an interview panelist for both the Senior Fulbright Fellowships and Postgraduate Fellowships at the Fulbright Commission: Thursday 14 Jan and Thursday 18 Feb 2016.
• She had a meeting with Penny Egan at the Fulbright Commission on Thursday 18 Feb to discuss BAAS’s US embassy grant application and the future funding outlook.
• SC commissioned designer Andrew Kingham to create a BAAS bookmark to include in conference packs and to promote BAAS at the various events we support. She will pass them on to JT.
• SC congratulated Cara and family on the happy arrival of baby Dexter on 22 Feb 2016. JT and SC have covered as much Treasurer work as possible in the interim period before CR is back on full duties, including drafting the annual Trustees’ Report and liaison with the accountants in preparation for the AGM accounts.
• SC sought and obtained email agreement from the executive to support one extra Early Career award via the Eccles Centre this year totaling £2,500, which was matched by the Eccles (with the view that we would institute an Early Career award next year as discussed in previous committee meetings; this will make the total number of awards from the Eccles 22, totaling c. £33,000 from the Eccles for BAAS to administer).

• US Embassy application and grant: This call came after our last meeting and SC liaised with the executive to put in a successful application for us to administer the $90,000 small grant award. Issues arising from this will come up later on the meeting agenda but we need to be particularly aware of the administrative load regarding the increase in the number of awards overall.

(b)        Achievements, announcements and events of note to BAAS members

• March 2016: The University of Keele announced the death of Prof. David Adams, founding Head of Keele’s American Studies Department in 1961 and a central figure in the creation and development of American Studies in the UK.

• The Institute for Black Atlantic Research (IBAR) at the University of Central Lancashire has been awarded a Marie Curie Fellowship grant (worth approx. €200,000), allowing Dr Izabella Penier from Lodsz, Poland to develop a project and activities on Womanism and Feminism in Black Atlantic Women’s Literature there over a two year period.

6. Secretary’s Business (JT Reporting)

(a)        Charitable Incorporated Organisation Constitution

Following the circulation of drafts among the exec and consultation with Keith Lawrey, the proposed new constitution to accompany BAAS’s move to CIO status has been made available to members on the website with the required notice of an AGM vote on the change. The document integrates our current constitution with an adapted version of the Charity Commission template for CIOs. As discussed previously, it includes a hybrid election model of both postal/electronic voting for those who can’t attend, and voting in the AGM. JT explained that Keith had recommended including a maximum and a minimum number of charity trustees (the trustees make up the executive committee); this could be a narrow field of 14-16 but allows greater flexibility than specifying an exact number of executive members/trustees as our current constitution does. Keith also recommended that we follow the Charity Commission template and lower the quoracy for AGMs to 5% (from the current 10%, which he described as ‘a remarkably high expectation’).

The change to CIO necessitates a vote to dissolve and reform BAAS, after which, if the motion is passed, we register anew with the Charity Commission and the new constitution will come into effect.

7. Treasurer’s Business (JT reporting on behalf of CR)

• Bank Accounts (as at 5 April 2016)

Current                                            £3,627.82

Savings                                           £19,442.78

BAAS Publications Ltd Current       £73,886.96

TOTAL:                                           £96,957.56

Dollar                                               $3,401.86

Paypal                                             unreported

(b) Membership Figures (provided by Louise Cunningham)

Honorary membership – 3

Schools membership – 12

Individual membership – 272 (121 online JAS, 151 with full JAS)

PG membership – 272 (208 online JAS, 64 with full JAS)

Retired (PR) – 28 (18 online JAS, 10 with full JAS)

Unwaged (PU) – 10 (8 online JAS, 2 with full JAS)

Members on fully paid sheet (total 597)

The January 2016 total was 535.

(c)        Narrative Report (sent by CR for the exec and AGM)

2015 saw a marked improvement in income for BAAS thanks to the new royalty agreement with CUP. However, given the need to build up reserves, there was not a push to massively increase spending by the organisation. CR is looking forward to working with the new Chair and committee to identify new spending priorities for 2016/17 once the reserves have been fully replenished. She is also looking forward to distributing the new small grants under BAAS’s agreement with the US Embassy. CR sent thanks to SC, JT, Theresa Saxon and Louise Cunningham for all their help ensuring the smooth running of the Treasury this year, both during the handover of the Treasurer role and during her maternity leave.

8. Development and Education Subcommittee (NW reporting)

NW will step down from the Development and Education subcommittee chair and his position on the BAAS exec a year early due to too many commitments.

The subcommittee had received an application for support for the Campus to Congress programme from Phil Davies (Eccles Centre). The executive approved the allocation of £300 for this important outreach work around the country.

Kate Dossett has drafted a paper on a potential new executive post with an Equalities and Diversity remit. At the moment introducing a new post requires amendment of our constitution and due notice of the change. There could be a co-option with this remit in 2016/17, with the named elected position being developed for the following year.

An associated initiative, the demographic review or survey discussed in previous meetings will be taken forward by BO and the new subcommittee chair in due course.

KM reported that website business is in good order. Members’ access to the Journal of American Studies via the BAAS website is still a work in progress, but is due to be resolved imminently with emails about login going out within days.

Matthew Shaw has stepped down as Library and Resources Representative and a new person will need to be found to fulfill that role.

9. Postgraduate Business (RA reporting)

RA has reached the end of her two-year term and, in order to promote the vacancy and the important work of the Postgraduate Rep, USSO has done a feature on the opportunity. RA will try to ensure a smooth handover to her successor.

RA reported a strong field of applications to run the next BAAS Postgraduate Conference. The successful one came from Leeds University and Rachael will liaise with her successor and Leeds organisers to facilitate planning for Autumn 2016.

Following previous correspondence about the reciprocal award between the IAAS and BAAS supporting PG attendance at each other’s conferences, RA reported that £250 had been awarded to a postgraduate this year.

10. Publications Subcommittee (JS reporting)

(a)        Journal of American Studies

Four members of the editorial board have reached the end of their terms. Two are stepping down and the Editors would like to ask two (Mark Whalan and Stephen Tuck) to renew.

A paper had been circulated and JS explained the process for appointing board members, which involves a vote to approve candidates by the editorial board and members of the BAAS exec (in the case of overlap between membership of the exec and the board, only one vote may be cast).

JAS is seeing increased submissions and in light of this the Editors CMB and BS would like to add to the editorial board, increasing its membership by one. Further expansion of the board will need careful monitoring. The proposed additional appointment could help support submissions in the areas of film and visual culture, music, and nineteenth-century history. Prior to the vote the Editors will suggest candidates, with a timeframe of one month for BAAS to make alternative suggestions.

JS also circulated a paper on the process for appointing new editors to JAS. He had consulted with the current Editors on this. It was asked if the process and Editor contracts allowed for the possibility of renewal or extension. The executive approved the process and JS will look into whether the option of renewal is already written into existing contracts.

(b)        USSO

JS reported that the appointment is underway for two new editors for USSO as Ben Offiler and Michelle Green step down. There is a very robust field of applicants; the outcome will be finalised after the conference. Warm thanks were offered to BO and MG and the rest of the USSO team for their very valuable work.

11. Awards Subcommittee (UB reporting)

The Awards programme has again run successfully with over 40 awards being made this year. The Eccles awards will be handed out following the Eccles sponsored lecture, and the rest will follow at the conference banquet. This year a new booklet lists all the award winners. Anneliese Reinemeyer from the London US Embassy will be in attendance along with a representative of the Belfast US Consulate.

Despite a strong field of applications, we still need to do more to publicise our awards. In particular, we need to encourage Schools and Undergraduate applicants and make use of existing databases and contacts to promote these opportunities.

It was suggested that the judging process would be smoother if the deadline for the Eccles awards was moved slightly earlier to mid December. We will also need to revisit the Ambassador awards next year, given that the grounds for Embassy funding have changed.

UB thanked those who served on judging panels. Special thanks were noted to Louise Cunningham for her work in running the ever-growing Awards process. We need to review ways of further supporting Louise in this.

12. Conference Subcommittee (SM reporting)

(a)        2017

Flyers for Canterbury Christ Church are in our conference packs and the Friday reception is sponsored by the 2017 hosts.

(b)        2018

The planning for the joint conference in London is well underway. It will run 4-7 April 2018 (Weds afternoon to Saturday afternoon, thus accommodating orthodox Easter Sunday). One keynote will be held at King’s (a European speaker; this will be the conference-sponsored keynote); two at UCL (a JAS speaker, who will be U.S.-based and an Eccles speaker, who will be U.K.-based). The organisers are Uta Balbier and Dan Matlin (King’s), Nick Witham and someone else TBC at UCL, with the involvement of Cara Rodway and Phil Davies from the Eccles Centre at the British Library.

(c)        2019

The Sussex organisers/contacts will be Tom Davies and Tom Wright. One of them will be co-opted on to the BAAS Conferences subcom from April 2017.

(d)        2020

Applications are invited to host the 2020 conference. SM’s replacement as subcom chair will need to follow up on this in due course.

(e)        Small Conference Support Grants

It was noted that we are now receiving a high number of high-quality applications for this fund (across two deadlines per year); applicants are meeting the brief and tailoring their applications well. In the April 2016 round alone there were nine applications and approx. £2,500 was requested, which far exceeds the £1500 allocated for the entire year. A request for conference support funding to be increased from £1500 to £3000 over the April/Nov 2016 rounds was approved by the Exec. The judging of the April round is in progress and SM will notify successful applicants shortly after the conference.

13. EAAS (MH reporting)

The EAAS conference in Constanta, Romania is approaching soon (22-25 April 2016). Planning for the joint conference in London in 2018 is progressing well, with a meeting taking place at the BAAS conference and reports being delivered to the EAAS board next week.

14. Any Other Business

(a)        Embassy Grant

As mentioned in the Chair’s report, BAAS’s bid to administer a small grants programme covering American Studies on behalf of the US Embassy was successful. SC, JT, CR and UB will meet with Sarah-Jane Mayhew and Anneliese Reinemeyer at the Embassy on 18 April 2016 to discuss plans and guidelines. A call for applications will need to be devised in order to distribute the funds in accordance with the eighteen-month timeframe set out in our bid.

In the meantime, the Embassy has passed on nine applications rolled over from their February deadline that fall in the area of American Studies; we are asked to consider these and decide whether to award funding from out of the main sum of 2016/17 funding. SC had circulated the applications, in which the amount requested varies significantly. The exec approved an interim process whereby these applicants are invited to resubmit bearing in mind the remit of BAAS’s programme, the promotion of American Studies in the UK and in some cases with a scaled down request.

BAAS may wish to target particular areas (e.g. events that reach schools) in its open call. Our bid set out that we would appoint a senior academic as Managing Director to oversee the programme and it also budgeted for additional administrative assistance. We now need to get an MD in place (ideally by the end of April) and secure administrative support. Suggestions for the MD role should be passed on to BW; BW and SC will also communicate with the authors of the funding applications already passed on to us. Rather than the Embassy Grant being folded into the business of the Awards subcom (already dealing with over 40 awards per year), the MD should report to the Chair and other officers and thus to the exec, and ongoing liaison with the Embassy will also be required.

(b)        MH drew attention to the next meeting of the Arts and Humanities Alliance on 22 April. It would be good for BAAS to be represented and volunteers from the exec to attend are welcome.

(c)        SC thanked all those on the exec whose terms are ending this April for their contributions and commitment. Public thanks to Sue for her tremendous work as Chair will follow at the AGM, but the exec also extended their thanks to her at this, her last executive committee meeting.

15. Date of next meeting TBC

Secretary: Dr. Jenny Terry / Email: j.a.terry@durham.ac.uk / Phone: 01913 342570