Barbara McCaskill - The Magnificent Reverend Peter Thomas Stanford, Transatlantic Reformer and Race Man

THE MAGNIFICENT REVEREND

Peter Thomas Stanford,

Transatlantic Reformer and Race Man

Peter Thomas Stanford,

Transatlantic Reformer and Race Man

EDITED BY Barbara McCaskill AND Sidonia Serafini With Rev. Paul Walker

The University of Georgia Press ATHENS

2020 by the University of Georgia Press

Athens, Georgia 30602

www.ugapress.org

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Designed by Erin Kirk

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: McCaskill, Barbara, editor. | Serafini, Sidonia, 1992 editor. | Walker, Paul, Rev., editor. | Stanford, P. Thomas (Peter Thomas) Works. Selections.

Title: The magnificent Reverend Peter Thomas Stanford : transatlantic reformer and race man / edited by Barbara McCaskill and Sidonia Serafini with Rev. Paul Walker.

Description: Athens : The University of Georgia Press, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020004459 | ISBN 9780820356556 (hardback) | ISBN 9780820356549 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Stanford, P. Thomas (Peter Thomas) | Baptists--United States--Clergy--Biography. | African American clergy--Biography. | African American Baptists--Biography. | African American educators--Biography. | Social reformers--United States--Biography. | African Americans--Civil rights-- History--19th century. | United States--Race relations--History--19th century. Classification: LCC BX6455.s735 M34 2020 | DDC 286.092 [B]--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020004459

To the past and present memberships of Hope Street and Highgate Baptist Churches

We honor the beneficent, revolutionary spirits of Rev. Peter Thomas Stanford, his first wife, Beatrice, and their beloved daughter Carrie for sharing this journey with us and presenting the gifts of their stories. Their sweet souls have guided us to new discoveries and called us to action. Rest in peace.

We hold in tremendously high regard and are very thankful for the enthusiastic support of the University of Georgia Press, particularly the wisdom and creativity of Walter Biggins, executive editor; Beth Snead, acquisitions coordinator; and Jon Davies, assistant director for EDP. We also extend thanks for the astute recommendations and questions of this books anonymous readers: we hope that this final production has done justice to your thoughtful, constructive comments. In the United Kingdom, Rev. Paul Walker, Janet Nock, Andrew Green, and Dr. Celeste-Marie Bernier were welcoming and generous in sharing their deep knowledge of the archives and of the British working classes during the nineteenth century. Portions of this book also have benefited at crucial moments from the assessments of colleagues at the MELUS Conference (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2017), the international Transatlantic Studies Association Conference (Dahlonega, Georgia, 2018), and the international Frederick Douglass across and against Times, Places, and Disciplines Symposium (Paris, 2018). Beatrice Burton expertly indexed this book.

In the American South, Prof. Randall K. Burkett, who is the retired curator of African American collections at Emory Universitys Rose Library and who knows these holdings like no other, encouraged us to explore more deeply William Henry Scotts papers, which have enabled us to articulate confidently the significance of Stanfords activism. A lunch conversation with Prof. Andra Gillespie, director of the James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference, and with fellows of the institute illuminated perceptions about black identity among the Native Americans Stanford may have encountered and offered insights about his photographs. Prof. Francine Allen of Morehouse Universitys English Department asked keen cultural questions. Desiree Wallen, archives technician at the National Archives and Records Administration in Morrow, Georgia, provided insights into navigating the Freedmens Bureau Records, and John McClure, director of library and research services at Virginia Museum of History & Culture, also offered very timely assistance.

At UGA, John C. Inscoe, Albert B. Saye Professor of History and University Professor; Stephen Berry, Gregory Professor of the Civil War Era; and Claudio Saunt, Richard B. Russell Professor of History and Distinguished Research Professor, guided us through queries about the Civil War and Reconstruction and validated how lucky we are to have such knowledgeable colleagues. In UGAs Department of English, Cynthia Turner Camp, associate professor of English literature, and LeAnne Howe, Eidson Distinguished Professor in American Literature, schooled us on the nuances of Stanfords respective encounters with medieval texts and Native American tribal affiliations. Our especial thanks go to Barbara Bendzunas, administrative assistant in the Department of English, for printing and scanning materials for us. Dr. Emily McGinn, digital humanities coordinator, answered our technical questions and instructed us very effectively on the process of document conversions. Finally, there are insufficient words to express how weve valued the unflagging, perceptive detective skills of Cindy Flom, UGA interlibrary loan librarian, and Marianne Burright, head of Scholarly Communication, Copyright, and Science Collections at UGA Libraries.

Scholars of Native American studies have been generous in sharing expertise about the indigenous communities Reverend Stanford likely encountered in Virginia and their complex relationships with enslaved and fugitive African Americans. We extend our gratitude for such information to Mikala M. Adams, associate professor of history, University of Mississippi; Marjorie Bruchac, associate professor of anthropology, University of Pennsylvania; and Angela Pulley Hudson, professor of history, Texas A&M University. We are appreciative also of Dale Brendel, publisher of the Muskogee Phoenix, for permission to reprint from earlier issues of the newspaper.

In the reverends stomping grounds of Roxbury, Boston, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, numerous professionals and community members assisted us in navigating archival collections and literally retracing his footsteps: Kara M. Jackman, archivist and preservation librarian, Boston University School of Theology and New England Conference Archives and Research Collections; Emily Gonzalez, archivist, Cambridge Historical Commission; Alyssa Pacy, archivist and senior librarian, Cambridge Public Library; Michelle Romero, archivist, Northeastern University Libraries and Special Collections; Rev. Julian Armand Cook, senior pastor, St. Mark Congregational Church; and Maureen Morris, administrative assistant, Cambridge Cemetery.

Elsewhere in the United States, John L. Bryant, professor emeritus of English at Hofstra University and founding editor of the Melville studies journal Leviathan, helped us untangle the publication history of The Tragedy of the Negro. Allison DeVito, copyright services specialist for the Ohio University Libraries, shared her insights about republishing it. Samantha Schmitt-Jaasar, secretary of New York Citys historic Mount Olivet Cemetery, and the late John Brewer (19442018), Pittsburghs influential local historian, author, and collector, were important to our recovery of the extraordinary personal history of Carolyn Stanford.