As African American women left slavery and the plantation economy behind, many entered domestic service in southern cities and towns. Cooking was one of the primary jobs they performed in white employers' homes, feeding generations of white families and, in the process, profoundly shaping southern foodways and culture. Rebecca Sharpless argues that, in the face of discrimination, long workdays, and low wages, African American cooks worked to assert measures of control over their own lives and to maintain spaces for their own families despite the demands of employers and the restrictions of segregation. Sharpless also shows how these women's employment served as a bridge from old labor arrangements to new ones. As opportunities expanded in the twentieth century, most African American women chose to leave cooking for more lucrative and less oppressive manufacturing, clerical, or professional positions. Through letters, autobiography, and oral history, this book evokes Afr
Rebecca A Sharpless Livres
Le travail universitaire de Rebecca Sharpless explore l'histoire américaine, en mettant particulièrement l'accent sur les femmes, le travail, l'alimentation et l'histoire du Texas. Ses articles pertinents ont été publiés dans des revues historiques de premier plan, apportant une contribution significative au domaine. Ayant présidé à la fois la Southern Association for Women Historians et l'Oral History Association, elle a démontré un leadership considérable dans le domaine de la recherche historique. Ses travaux offrent une compréhension plus approfondie d'aspects cruciaux de l'histoire américaine et du Sud.
