Former slave who became Virginia landowner subject of March 30 talk at Fairfield University

Former slave who became Virginia landowner subject of March 30 talk at Fairfield University

Dr. Angelita Reyes, professor of African and African American Studies and English at Arizona State University, whose research uncovered a Virginia home that was purchased by a former slave in 1888 after emancipation, will speak at Fairfield University on Monday, March 30 at 6:30 p.m. in the Multimedia Room of the DiMenna-Nyselius Library. Her talk, "Elusive Autobiography and Performativity: Vicey Skipwith's Virginia Home Place, 1856-1936" is open to the public and admission is free.

Reyes' work in uncovering the Vicey Skipwith Home Place in Mecklenburg, Va., resulted in it being included in the Virginia Landmarks Register and in the National Register for Historic Places. The landmark, which has become an integral piece of African American History, was home to several African American families in Mecklenburg County's Bluestone District throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

Dr. Reyes is an award winning author, professor and consultant. She has written many books and articles including "Mothering ACROSS Cultures: Postcolonial Representations" (2002) which received the Choice Outstanding Academic Title in Language and Literature and was nominated for the Modern Language Association's William Sanders Scarborough Prize (2003). In addition to her writing, Reyes has presented seminars and conferences in the United States, Europe, the Caribbean, and Africa. In 2007, she was invited to Kazakhstan by the U.S. Department of State to speak on ethnicity and African American cultures in the United States.

This event is funded by the Humanities Institute in the College of Arts and Sciences and is co-sponsored by the Women's Studies Program, the Program in Black Studies, the Honors Program, the English Department, and the History Department. For more information, please contact the Women's Studies Program at (203) 254-4000, ext. 2320.

Posted On: 03-18-2009 10:03 AM

Volume: 41 Number: 256