5 Shades of Pink: A Coerced IdentityPosted in Arts, Census/Demographics, History, Live Events, Media Archive, United States, Women on 2009-10-04 23:52Z by Steven |
5 Shades of Pink: A Coerced Identity
In cooperation with The Graduate Association of Rhetoric and Performance Studies.
A Graduate Thesis Performance Exploring Biracial Identity in the 19th Century.
Monroe Lecture Center Theater
California Avenue, South Campus
Hofstra University
2009-03-19 19:30 (Local Time)
by Melissa J. Edwards
Hofstra University
This performance explores the influences of the 1859 play The Octoroon by Dion Boucicault, miscegenation laws, and the U.S. Census on biracial identity. All these factors are used in the analysis of the racial identity of [“Pinky”] Sally Maria Diggs, a 9-year-old girl whose freedom was purchased by the congregation [for $900 USD on 1860-02-05] of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, through the efforts of the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher and his associates. The performance is intended to educate and present the theories of social impact on racial identity while providing historical fact and content.
“Freedom Ring” by Eastman Johnson, from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 1934-03-21, p. 1
Courtesy of the Brooklyn Public Library