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Reviews
| The Archaeology of Mothering: An African-American Midwife's Tale. By Laurie A. Wilkie. New York: Routledge, 2003. xxix+240 pp., maps, tables, illus., notes, bibl., index. $24.95 pb (ISBN 0-415-94570-4).
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Lucrecia Perryman was an African American woman who settled in Mobile, Alabama, after Emancipation. Following the death of her husband, Marshall, in 1884, she turned to midwifery to support herself and her children. Weaving together historical and archaeological data of the Perryman family, Laurie Wilkie reveals the intricate textures of the tapestry of Lucrecia's life during a time when social relations of class, gender, and ethnicity were particularly dynamic.
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The volume begins with a prologue that humanizes and contextualizes the researcher, research, and subject. Arguably one of the most compelling sections of the book, the author recounts her personal journey as a scholar, mother, and investigator of African American mothering. This section intimately situates Wilkie within the story she tells.
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In chapter 1, the author succinctly positions her work and its relevance to studies of women and African American life in the post-Emancipation era. Wilkie observes that the current emphasis in the scholarly literature is on white middle-class women. She advocates the exploration of diverse experiences through the examination of social constructions of mothering as represented by women of varied races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic classes.
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Chapter 2 summarizes the documentary records of the Perrymans and the world in which they lived in the decades surrounding the turn of the 20th century. Wilkie emphasizes the family unit as a dynamic, rather than static, entity. Marriages and divorces, births and deaths, relocations and alienations all serve to add and remove members over time. Furthermore, these familial events do not occur in isolation but are part of the continual negotiation of life on an ever-changing social, political, and economic landscape.
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Wilkie explores the "diverse ideologies and realities of black motherhood and mothering during slavery" in chapter 3 (p. 55) and, in chapter 4, the constructions of motherhood following Emancipation, particularly as juxtaposed with the cult of true womanhood and racism. This section highlights that women's experiences are not monolithic. Mothering and motherhood—and its attendant expectations for being a "good mother"—were defined at the scale of the larger culture but were operationalized on the scale of the individual and/or community. Women appropriated various aspects of dominant ideologies according to their own needs, abilities, and social agendas.
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Chapters 5 and 6 illuminate midwifery as mothering as well as its role in other aspects of reproductive health. Becoming a mother is a transformative event, establishing new social relations and repositioning a woman within her family. Midwifery served as symbolic motherhood for some African American women, making them important agents in these transformations for their neighbors. Providing reproductive services, including birth control and abortion, was a means by which midwives could empower and assist others in having control over their own fertility.
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The professionalization of motherhood or "scientific mothering" is the focus of chapter 7. Scientism in the household encompassed an increased emphasis on sanitation, clean water and food, and personal hygiene. The movement began as a reification of the cult of true womanhood for white middle-class women. For African American women, however, scientific mothering was part of a broader social movement to improve public health. The field of medicine was also undergoing professionalization at the same time, and midwives (specifically African American midwives) were often targeted as unsanitary, superstitious, and dangerous.
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The final chapter summarizes how an archaeology of mothering illuminates the complex intersection of class, gender, and ethnicity in the context of Perryman's life. Many scholarly analyses of these social relations tend to give primacy to one over another. Wilkie eloquently demonstrates that Perryman was positioned "at the intersection of multiple oppressions—racism, sexism, and poverty" (p. 219). Consequently, an understanding of her life requires an intricate examination of these collective elements.
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The Archaeology of Mothering is well organized and beautifully illustrated. Archaeological and historical information is presented throughout the volume, emphasizing the intimate relationship of these two data sets to understanding the negotiation and social constructions of motherhood in an African American community. Also woven throughout the text are fictive narratives and letters, which highlight the intellectual, methodological, and personal biases that archaeologists bring to their constructions of the past. Scholars selectively sort through the various data brought to bear on their research questions and interpret them through the particular lenses of their own lives and training.
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| Wilkie's volume is a welcome and much needed addition to the scholarly literature of social archaeology. Her analysis of class, gender, and ethnicity through the study of African American midwifery provides an exceptional example of historical archaeology and socially responsible scholarship. Perryman would undoubtedly be pleased with this thorough and thoughtful examination of her life. |
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