Compare Constellations

White, Barbara. Anna Gardner [manuscript]: teacher of freedmen, "a disturber of tradition", by Barbara White 2005 May.

Title: Anna Gardner [manuscript]: teacher of freedmen, "a disturber of tradition", by Barbara White 2005 May.

The essay traces Gardner's upbringing in a Nantucket Quaker abolitionist family, teacher of freedmen in New Bern, North Carolina [1864?-1865], Charlottesville, Va. [1865-1870], and Elizabeth City, North Carolina, Camden, South Carolina and New Bern, North Carolina [ca. 1870-ca. 1877] under the auspices of both the New England Freedmen's Society and the Freedmen's Bureau, and her retirement years as a leader in the feminist movement. It contains a detailed description of the workings of the freedmen's school in Charlottesville, including descriptions of her fellow teachers Philena Carkin, Paul Lewis and Isabella Gibbons and conflicting religious views with both the white trustees of the school and her African American scholars which led to her resignation.

ArchivalResource: 1 volume.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/166268158 View

Carkin, Philena. Philena Carkin papers [manuscript], 1866-1902.

Title: Philena Carkin papers [manuscript], 1866-1902.

The collection contains a bound manuscript journal Reminiscences of my Life and Work among the Freedmen of Charlottesville, Virginia, from March 1st 1866 to July 1st 1875. Vol. 1, together with a carte-de-visite portrait, n.d., of Carkin by Charlottesville photographer William Roads, and a copy of her certificate of commission as a teacher of ex-slaves issued by the Eastern Department of the American Freedmen's Aid Commission. In her reminiscences Carkin describes her arrival; the town of Charlottesville; military occupation; the University of Virginia and its students; Monticello; fellow teachers, particularly Anna Gardner, Isabella Gibbons and Paul Lewis; schoolhouses, schoolrooms, teaching duties, and students; entertainment; and travel, including a trip to Grant's inauguration and one to the Virginia constitutional convention of 1867-1868. She discusses the lives of the freedmen and their desire for an education; religious revivals; harassment of the school staff and the freedmen by townspeople and university students; celebrations and social events; trips to town by local mountaineers; and a Rivanna River flood in 1870. Aspects of local life different from New England are noted particularly in the purchase of food and fuel, lack of sanitation, and casual cruelty to animals. Thomas Jefferson Randolph and Alexander Rives are mentioned briefly.

ArchivalResource: 3 items.1 reel : positive; 35 mm.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/647842037 View

Nesbit, Scott. The education of William Gibbons, 2004.

Title: The education of William Gibbons, 2004.

A biographical essay on the life of Gibbons who began life as a slave in Albemarle County, Va., and at the University of Virginia, became a leader of the African American community in Charlottesville, Va., during Reconstruction, and a pastor of Zion Baptist Church, Washington, D.C., 1868-1886. Names of Albemarle County residents mentioned include Dr. James L. Cabell, Arthur Gibbons, Isabella Gibbons, Henry Howard, William H. McGuffey, Nicholas Rickmond, Fairfax Taylor, and Captain William Tidball.

ArchivalResource: 1 item.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/77130313 View

Carkin, Philena. Reminiscences of Philena Carkin [manuscript], 1910.

Title: Reminiscences of Philena Carkin [manuscript], 1910.

Reminiscences of my Life and Work among the Freedmen of Charlottesville, Virginia, from March 1st 1866 to July 1st 1875. Vol. 2. contains chapters on "Visitors," "Slave stories," "Friendly white citizens," "Characters among the freedmen" "Letters from pupils," and "Leftovers", plus Carkin's reflections on her work and the progress of her pupils and the freedmen in general. The section on visitors very briefly notes the names of visitors to the school including the Marquis of Lorne, the wife of William Barton Rogers, and General Samuel C. Armstrong who assisted a pupil in attending Hampton Institute. The chapter on slave stories contains brief life histories or anecdotes about local freedmen. The chapter on friendly white citizens describes cordial relations with tradespeople and lists the few whites who evinced a friendly interest in their work including Professors Minor and McGuffey, Alexander Rives, and bank cashier [Alexander P.?] Abell, and discusses the resignation of Anna Gardner over religious views. "Special characters among freedmen" relates stories about "Aunt" Jenny Pickett, Thomas Farrar, Robert Sellers, the Rev. William Gibbons (a former slave of University of Virginia professor Henry Howard), Isabella Gibbons, Jesse Kelly, Margaret Lewis, and the musical Scott family. "Letters from pupils" contains letters from Tilly M. Sellers, 1886, who sends news of former pupils and the work at his own school at Boyd's Station, whose library was named for Franklin B. Sanborn who sent books for the school. Letters from Rives Minor, 1910, mentions the success of many former pupils including the Scotts, Benjamin Tonsler, John West, and [?] Inge, and describes teaching in Highland County, Va., in 1879. In "Leftovers," Carkin describes predjudice encountered by Isabella Gibbons and herself on a train trip to see Grant's inaugural. She also gives more information about Benjamin Tonsler, the student that Armstrong provided for at Hampton, as well as Robert Scott and Egbert Terry. Typed transcription available.

ArchivalResource: 1 v.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/647924771 View