The Vice President's Black Wife: The Untold Life of Julia Chinn
Oct 2023 · UNC Press Books
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Award-winning historian Amrita Chakrabarti Myers has recovered the riveting, troubling, and complicated story of Julia Ann Chinn (ca. 1796–1833), the enslaved mixed-race wife of Richard Mentor Johnson, owner of Blue Spring Farm, veteran of the War of 1812, and US vice president under Martin Van Buren. Johnson never freed Chinn, but during his frequent absences from his estate, he delegated to her the management of his property, including Choctaw Academy, a boarding school for Indigenous men and boys. This meant that Chinn had substantial control over economic, social, financial, and personal affairs within the couple’s world, including overseeing Blue Spring’s enslaved labor force. Chinn’s relationship with Johnson was unlikely a consensual one since she was never manumitted.
Award-winning historian Amrita Chakrabarti Myers has recovered the riveting, troubling, and complicated story of Julia Ann Chinn (ca. 1796–1833), the enslaved mixed-race wife of Richard Mentor Johnson, owner of Blue Spring Farm, veteran of the War of 1812, and US vice president under Martin Van B...
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1 review
Andrea Romance
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October 10, 2023
This well-researched and easy-to-read book provides an interesting story that sheds light on a hidden part of American history. It's not told in a narrative style but reveals facts based on historical documents. Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
About the author
Amrita Chakrabarti Myers is the Ruth N. Halls Professor of History and Gender Studies at Indiana University Bloomington. She is the author of Forging Freedom: Black Women and the Pursuit of Liberty in Antebellum Charleston.
Amrita Chakrabarti Myers is the Ruth N. Halls Professor of History and Gender Studies at Indiana University Bloomington. She is the author of Forging Freedom: Black Women and the Pursuit of Liberty in Antebellum Charleston.
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