Diane Taraz

Broschiertes Buch

Candace

Imagining the Life of a Woman Enslaved in 18th-Century New England

Beschreibung

In 1742 a child was brought to the town of Gosport on the Isles of Shoals, off the coast of New Hampshire, and enslaved by the town's minister. We know that her name was Candace but little else about her, apart from two brief church records. She spent her life in Gosport. Diane Taraz explores what that life may have been like, based on the experiences of others in Candace's situation, facts about the family that kept her in bondage, the records of the town in which she lived, and what we know about life in the New England colonies during the eighteenth century. These explorations are conjecture, but they are based on a wealth of research from primary source documents. Most of the book is about the world in which Candace found herself nearly 300 years ago. Taraz recognizes that she has no way of knowing anything about this woman's inner life and has tried to avoid taking liberties with her memory. But Candace can be placed in the midst of an ocean of facts, and it is worthwhile to envision her as a live person rather than just a fading bit of ink on a page. At least four other people were enslaved in Gosport. In the years leading up to the American Revolution they lived through a major earthquake, continent-wide warfare, a calendar adjustment, and growing conflict with Britain. They entered a new nation, conceived in liberty, that did not extend the right of liberty to all. The legacy of this injustice remains very much with us.

Autor

Diane Taraz loves to discover the stories of those usually left out of historical accounts, especially women. She creates unique programs that use music to explore the past, including women's history, the American Revolution, the Civil War, the lives of New England millworkers, the First World War, and the life of Elizabeth Freeman, known as Mum Bet. Taraz is a fabric artist and hand-sews much of the apparel she wears for her programs. She plays authentic instruments when performing at museums, libraries, historical societies, and universities throughout New England. As an internationally known singer and songwriter, Taraz has hundreds of songs streaming on all the digital platforms. One of her original songs and her interpretation of a traditional carol have been used in television and film soundtracks. Her elegant voice brings out the essence of whatever style she presents, be it folk, pop, blues, or jazz standards, accompanying herself on guitar and dulcimer. For more than a decade Taraz has directed the Lexington Historical Society Colonial Singers; she produced two albums for them. For over two decades she sang Renaissance polyphony in Vox Lucens, an early music ensemble, and still serves as its president. For many years she sang in a women's a cappella group, writing and arranging songs for them, and was a longtime member of a band that played Celtic and sea music, performing at Boston's First Night, the USS Constitution Museum, and other venues throughout New England. She also collaborated with master musicians to record two albums of jazz standards. Taraz has worked as a copyeditor for Houghton Mifflin and other publishers. She edited the companion book to the documentary "Eyes on the Prize," the Unitarian Universalist Association's "Welcoming Congregation" guidebook, and many other works.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bookbaby
• Seitenzahl: 234
• Erscheinungstermin: 3. April 2023
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 224mm x 157mm x 23mm
• Gewicht: 386g
• ISBN-13: 9781667885438
• ISBN-10: 166788543X
• Artikelnr.: 67451639