Discovered Civil War Era Letters Preserve Two Free-born Black Female Activists’ Comments on Their Life and Times
The Civil War-era exchange of letters between two free-born African-American women named Addie Brown and Rebecca Primus is now, more than a century later, igniting a scholarly dialogue over the relationship shared by the two spirited, opinionated women.
Their published correspondence is stirring interest among scholars who contend the 19th-century documents make a significant addition to the literature about African-American women who carved out lives for themselves during this turbulent period of racial upheaval and conflict.
Researchers know that Brown, a feisty, orphaned domestic servant, and Primus, a well-to-do charismatic school teacher, both worked hard, battled racism, spoke their minds — and loved each other passionately.
But the letters between Primus and Brown had not been intensely scrutinized and interpreted by a scholar until Dr. Karen V. Hansen, an associate professor of sociology at Brandeis University, started researching and reading between the lines.
In a 29-page article published in the academic journal “Gender & History,” Hansen boldly suggests that Brown and Primus were more than friends. Their relationship, she says, was erotic and romantic.
Complex Relationship
