Black women and the cultural performance of music in mid-nineteenth century Natchez

Abstract

ABSTRACT Anna and Kate Johnson’s experiences typify that of thousands of women who lived in the United States during the mid-nineteenth century. In this microhistory of Anna and Kate and performativity among Black women living in a slave state, I expose the evidence of their lived experiences outside the metanarrative of music history in the United States. With the acknowledgment that middle-class Blacks adopted social customs used by whites, and confirmation through the artifacts that might confirm this practice, this essay introduces Black women and others into a more inclusive and honest narrative of social music practices in the nineteenth century.