By the Work of Their Hands: Studies in Afro-American Folklife

Abstract

In this book the author aims to revolutionize our understanding of Afro-American material culture. Bringing to the essays his extensive research into the written, oral and material sources of Afro-American culture as well on his scholarly knowledge of folklife, social history, anthropology, and art history, Vlach presents the evidence of African influence on Black American folklife, both past and present. The 9 essays in the book are divided into three categories: folk arts and crafts, artisan's lives, and black buildings. They encompass a broad range of folklife, bringing together the fragmented pieces of African as well as Caribbean influence. From South Carolina to Texas, and from Louisiana to Virginia, Vlach provides both general surveys and specific case studies, and focuses not only on artifacts, but on the artisan's role as designer and maker. He examines various manifestations of African culture form direct retentions of African items to stylistic influences inherent in the creative philosophy, in the intellectual premises on which the artifact is designed. The noted stonecarver William Edmonson of Tennessee and contemporary blacksmith Philip Simmons of Charleston are featured, as well as countless other artisans from both past and present. The last 20 years have brought an increased awareness of black America's African heritage, but the lasting influences of African tradition in material culture has been largely overlooked or denied by scholars claiming that slave owners had succeeded in divesting black people of all tangible aspects of the life they had lost. Using multidisciplinary means, Vlach has broken much new ground in this complex cross-cultural experience. He uses unconventional documents to create an alternative history and to demonstrate just how much of African culture was remembered and how rich and vibrant the tradition is.