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Author to discuss black women, sexuality March 1 |
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Krista M. Hayes |
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Feb 27, 2007 |
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Dr. Nikki Taylor, associate professor of American history at the University of Cincinnati, will speak on “The Strange Career of Jezebel: Black Women, Representation and Sexuality” Thursday, March 1, at 6:30 p.m. in Driscoll Alumni Center Room 1019 on Main Campus.
Her talk is part of the UT History Department’s Engaged History Lecture Series and in recognition of Black History Month.
During her talk, Taylor will provide a brief overview and history of the life and career of jezebels, also known as “ride vixens,” while discussing how they were first organized and how their development over time has led them to be highly sexualized and stereotyped to objectify a whole group of people.
Her 2005 book, ‘Frontiers of Freedom:’ Cincinnati’s Black Community, 1802-1868, has received many outstanding reviews.
Taylor’s many papers and professional presentations have focused on African-American migrations and the lives of free black women. Other research interests include black attitudes toward ethnic immigrants and the 1859-1890 biography of Peter Clark with Walter Hertz. She is the recipient of a number of grants, including Fulbright and Woodrow Wilson fellowships.
She is a court-appointed special advocate for ProKids, where she acts as an advocate for children in the Hamilton County foster care system and makes decisions about where the children should be placed after abuse. From 1999 to 2000, she was an adviser at The University of Toledo and on the executive board Toledo branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. She served as a motivational speaker from 1998 to 2001 for senior women at a local high school, where she discussed the importance of a college education for black women and established a college fund to assist one black female student with college tuition.
Taylor previously held teaching positions at Vassar College and was a program associate and adjunct professor of American history at the University of Michigan. From 1998 to 2000, Taylor was a visiting assistant professor of history and Africana studies at UT, where she taught African-American History to 1865, African-American History After 1865, Black Women’s History, the African-American Experience in Ohio, Introduction to Africana Studies and the African Experience.
“Dr. Taylor’s presentation makes an important contribution to the Black History Month activities by delving into the ‘hidden histories’ of African-American women,” said Dr. Diane Britton, UT professor of history. “Throughout U.S. history, from the time African slavery was introduced in the North American colonies, black women have been characterized in ways that reflected stereotypes and cultural assumptions. Dr. Taylor peels away the layers of false identity to not only reveal the lives of real individuals in our past but also to understand how and why those stereotypes have been created and perpetuated. She is a creative and resourceful social historian who is an engaging speaker. Her presentations appeal to students across the spectrum of majors, as well as general audiences because Dr. Taylor’s work has so much to tell us about how we become the society that we today.”
Taylor is a member of many organizations, including the Association of Black Sociologists, American Historical Association, Organization of American Historians, and the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History. She also served as secretary and the national vice director for the Association of Black Women Historians.
She is a 2001 doctoral graduate of Duke University and a specialist in African-American, women’s and urban history. She received her master’s degree in U.S. history in 1996 from Duke University and her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1994.
The lecture is sponsored by the Department of History for Black History Month Engaged History Lecture Series “Hidden Histories: Untold Stories of Journey.”
For more information on the free, public lecture, contact Britton at 419.530.4540 or at diane.britton@utoledo.edu.
For more information on Black History Month visit http://multicultural.utoledo.edu.
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