Bristol Knights of the Razor

Black Barbers in Slavery and Freedom
Erscheinungsjahr 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8018-9830-3
Verlag: Johns Hopkins University Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 0 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm

Black barbers, reflected a freed slave who barbered in antebellum St. Louis, may have been the only men in their community who enjoyed, at all times, the privilege of free speech. The reason lay in their temporary—but absolute—power over a client. With a flick of the wrist, they could have slit the throats of the white men they shaved. In Knights of the Razor, Douglas Walter Bristol, Jr., explores this extraordinary relationship in the largely untold story of African American barbers, North and South, from the American Revolution to the First World War.

In addition to establishing the modern-day barbershop, these barbers used their skilled trade to navigate the many pitfalls that racism created for ambitious black men. Successful barbers assumed leadership roles in their localities, helping to form a black middle class despite pervasive racial segregation. They advocated economic independence from whites and founded insurance companies that became some of the largest black-owned corporations.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bristol Jr., Douglas W.

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Amerikanische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Origins of Black Barbers
2. Becoming Knights of the Razor
3. Caught between Regional Origins and the Barber's Trade
4. Self-Improvement and Self-Loathing before the War
5. Defining the Meaning of Freedom
6. From Barbershops to Boardrooms
Conclusion
Notes
Guide to Further Reading
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Bristol Jr., Douglas W.
Douglas Walter Bristol, Jr., is an associate professor of history at the University of Southern Mississippi and a fellow at the Dale Center for the Study of War and Society. He is the author of Knights of the Razor: Black Barbers in Slavery and Freedom.

Douglas Walter Bristol, Jr., is an associate professor of history at the University of Southern Mississippi.