Farah Jasmine Griffin - Beloved Sisters and Loving Friends

T HIS project has been supported and nurtured by many wonderful and generous people. David White of the Connecticut Historical Commission shared much of his early research on the Primus papers and was always there to answer a question, send a photograph, and offer encouragement. Through numerous conversations and an ongoing correspondence, Barbara Beeching shared my enthusiasm for Addie and Rebecca. Most important, Karen Hansen introduced me to the letters and was always willing to discuss the difficulties of editing and interpreting them.

In addition, my students Jennifer Furman, Ericka Armstrong, Asia Slowe, Nicole Childers, and Michelle Wayne proved to be invaluable research assistants and typists. Of these, Ms. Wayne was a wonderful interpreter of the letters and devoted far more time and attention to them than I can ever thank her for. Ms. Valerie Savage-Pugh of the University of Pennsylvania English Department was a tireless and enthusiastic transcriber of the lengthy epistles. Maurice Black proofread the entire manuscript. I owe them all my gratitude.

Frances Smith Foster, Drew Gilpin Faust, and Stephanie Shaw all provided invaluable criticism and suggestions for revision. Carla Peterson, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, Barbara Savage, and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham were extraordinary supporters of this project from the start. Barbara Sicherman and Saidiya Hartman read early drafts and offered important advice. Professor Sicherman was especially generous with her time and ideas.

In Talbot County, Maryland, Mr. Lord Scott, owner of Scotties Taxi, Ms. Harriet Romero, and Ms. Scottie Oliver, curator of the Maryland Room, Talbot County Public Library, offered their assistance in helping me to learn about the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Scotties hospitality, guidance, and friendship are gifts from heaven.

I am especially grateful to research fellowships from the University of Pennsylvania and summer stipends from the Womens Studies Program and the Lindback Society of the university. The angelic staff of the Bunting Institute in Cambridge gave me the space and resources to spend the first part of my fellowship year adding the final touches. Without this assistance I would never have been able to complete this project.

Members of the staffs of the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford, the Library Company in Philadelphia, Van Pelt Library at the University of Pennsylvania, and Widener Library at Harvard University helped to facilitate my research.

My agent, Loretta Barrett, recognized the importance of this project from the very beginning, and she always offered her advice and support with enthusiasm and kindness. Vicky Wilson, my editor at Knopf, suffered countless changed deadlines and revised versions of this manuscript. For this I am grateful.

My mother, Wilhelmena Griffin, and my cousin Irvin Carson, Sr., loved to hear stories of Addie and Rebecca and helped to convince me that these letters had to be made available to readers outside the academy. Four gifted healers, Laurene Finley, Karen Jordan, Joyce Rubin, and Zulene, cared for me, mind and body, throughout. Jim and Edjohnetta Miller and their children, Ayesha and John, offered their home to me during my frequent research trips to Hartford. They also fed me, shared information, and helped to lift my spirits on a daily basis. Edjohnetta joins women like Alice Brown, Julia Turner Lowe, Vanessa Harley, Imani Perry, and my biological sister, Myra Griffin Lindsay, all of whom provide me with the crucial space of sister friendship. None have so lovingly and patiently offered this space more than the five women to whom this volume is dedicated. Nathan Huggins first introduced me to the formal study of African American history; in so doing, he changed the direction of my life. I am forever indebted to my godfather, mentor, and friend, Judge A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr. And finally, a special thank-you to Lisa Y. Sullivan.