Scattered and Fugitive Things: How Black Collectors Created Archives and Remade History

During the first half of the twentieth century, a group of collectors and creators dedicated themselves to...
$132.13 AUD
$132.13 AUD
SKU: 9780231212755
Product Type: Books
Please hurry! Only 249 left in stock
Author: Laura Helton
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Subtotal: $132.13
10 customers are viewing this product
Scattered and Fugitive Things: How Black Collectors Created Archives and Remade History by Helton, Laura

Scattered and Fugitive Things: How Black Collectors Created Archives and Remade History

$132.13

Scattered and Fugitive Things: How Black Collectors Created Archives and Remade History

$132.13
Author: Laura Helton
Format: Paperback
Language: English

During the first half of the twentieth century, a group of collectors and creators dedicated themselves to documenting the history of African American life. At a time when dominant institutions cast doubt on the value or even the idea of Black history, these bibliophiles, scrapbookers, and librarians created an enduring set of African diasporic archives. In building these institutions and amassing abundant archival material, they also reshaped Black public culture, animating inquiry into the nature and meaning of Black history.

Scattered and Fugitive Things tells the stories of these Black collectors, traveling from the parlors of the urban north to HBCU reading rooms and branch libraries in the Jim Crow south. Laura E. Helton chronicles the work of six key figures: bibliophile Arturo Schomburg, scrapbook maker Alexander Gumby, librarians Virginia Lee and Vivian Harsh, curator Dorothy Porter, and historian L. D. Reddick. Drawing on overlooked sources such as book lists and card catalogs, she reveals the risks collectors took to create Black archives. This book also explores the social life of collecting, highlighting the communities that used these collections from the South Side of Chicago to Roanoke, Virginia. In each case, Helton argues, archiving was alive in the present, a site of intellectual experiment, creative abundance, and political possibility. Offering new ways to understand Black intellectual and literary history, Scattered and Fugitive Things reveals Black collecting as a radical critical tradition that reimagines past, present, and future.

Author: Laura Helton
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 04/16/2024
Pages: 328
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.11lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.73d
ISBN: 9780231212755

About the Author
Laura E. Helton is an assistant professor of English and history at the University of Delaware. She is a coeditor of the digital humanities project "Remaking the World of Arturo Schomburg."

Returns Policy

You may return most new, unopened items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. We'll also pay the return shipping costs if the return is a result of our error (you received an incorrect or defective item, etc.).

You should expect to receive your refund within four weeks of giving your package to the return shipper, however, in many cases you will receive a refund more quickly. This time period includes the transit time for us to receive your return from the shipper (5 to 10 business days), the time it takes us to process your return once we receive it (3 to 5 business days), and the time it takes your bank to process our refund request (5 to 10 business days).

If you need to return an item, simply login to your account, view the order using the "Complete Orders" link under the My Account menu and click the Return Item(s) button. We'll notify you via e-mail of your refund once we've received and processed the returned item.

Shipping

We can ship to virtually any address in the world. Note that there are restrictions on some products, and some products cannot be shipped to international destinations.

When you place an order, we will estimate shipping and delivery dates for you based on the availability of your items and the shipping options you choose. Depending on the shipping provider you choose, shipping date estimates may appear on the shipping quotes page.

Please also note that the shipping rates for many items we sell are weight-based. The weight of any such item can be found on its detail page. To reflect the policies of the shipping companies we use, all weights will be rounded up to the next full pound.

Related Products

Recently Viewed Products