The vice president's Black wife

the untold life of Julia Chinn

The vice president's Black wife

the untold life of Julia Chinn
Amrita Chakrabarti Myers
Book - 2023

"Award-winning historian Amrita Chakrabarti Myers has recovered the riveting, troubling, and complicated story of Julia Ann Chinn (ca. 1796-1833), the enslaved mixed-race wife of Richard Mentor Johnson, owner of Blue Spring Farm, veteran of the War of 1812, and US vice president under Martin Van Buren. Johnson never freed Chinn, but during his frequent absences from his estate, he delegated to her management of his property, including Choctaw Academy, a boarding school for Indigenous men and boys. This meant that Chinn, while enslaved, had substantial control over economic, social, financial, and personal affairs within the couple's world, including overseeing Blue Spring's enslaved labor force. Chinn's relationship with Johnson was unlikely a consensual one since she was never manumitted. What makes Chinn's life exceptional is the power that Johnson invested in her, the opportunities the couple's relationship afforded her and her daughters, and their community's tacit acceptance of the family-up to a point. When the family left their farm, they faced steep limits: pews at the rear of church, burial in separate graveyards, exclusion from town dances, and more. Outliving Chinn, Johnson was ruined politically by his relationship with her, and Myers compellingly demonstrates that it wasn't interracial sex that led to his downfall but his refusal to keep it-and Julia Chinn-behind closed doors"--

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Barcode Status Material Type CallNumber
37413322057540 Available Non-fiction B CHINN MYERS
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Myers, Amrita Chakrabarti (Author)
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: Chapel Hill : The University of North Carolina Press, [2023]
Subjects:

MARC

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100 1 |a Myers, Amrita Chakrabarti,  |e author. 
245 1 4 |a The vice president's Black wife :  |b the untold life of Julia Chinn /  |c Amrita Chakrabarti Myers. 
246 3 0 |a Untold life of Julia Chinn 
263 |a 2310 
264 1 |a Chapel Hill :  |b The University of North Carolina Press,  |c [2023] 
264 4 |c Ã2023 
300 |a xxii, 269 pages :  |b illustrations, maps ;  |c 25 cm 
336 |a text  |b txt  |2 rdacontent 
337 |a unmediated  |b n  |2 rdamedia 
338 |a volume  |b nc  |2 rdacarrier 
500 |a "A Ferris and Ferris book." 
504 |a Includes bibliographical references (pages 251-259) and index. 
505 0 |g Preface :  |t Searching for Julia: July 28, 2015 --  |g Introduction :  |t Telling stories --  |g Chapter 1 :  |t Beginnings: Bluegrass and Black salves --  |g Chapter 2 :  |t Mistress of the parlor: The Black woman of Blue Spring --  |g Chapter 3 :  |t Campus conflicts: Racial collisions at Choctaw Academy --  |g Chapter 4 :  |t Disorderly communion: The Johnsons go to church --  |g Chapter 5 :  |t Town talk: Locals draw the line --  |g Chapter 6 :  |t Affairs of state: The Nation speaks of sex --  |g Chapter 7 :  |t End of days: Privilege, property, and passing(s) --  |g Epilogue :  |t Past meets present: History and memory --  |g Postscript :  |t The search for Julia, redux. 
520 |a "Award-winning historian Amrita Chakrabarti Myers has recovered the riveting, troubling, and complicated story of Julia Ann Chinn (ca. 1796-1833), the enslaved mixed-race wife of Richard Mentor Johnson, owner of Blue Spring Farm, veteran of the War of 1812, and US vice president under Martin Van Buren. Johnson never freed Chinn, but during his frequent absences from his estate, he delegated to her management of his property, including Choctaw Academy, a boarding school for Indigenous men and boys. This meant that Chinn, while enslaved, had substantial control over economic, social, financial, and personal affairs within the couple's world, including overseeing Blue Spring's enslaved labor force. Chinn's relationship with Johnson was unlikely a consensual one since she was never manumitted. What makes Chinn's life exceptional is the power that Johnson invested in her, the opportunities the couple's relationship afforded her and her daughters, and their community's tacit acceptance of the family-up to a point. When the family left their farm, they faced steep limits: pews at the rear of church, burial in separate graveyards, exclusion from town dances, and more. Outliving Chinn, Johnson was ruined politically by his relationship with her, and Myers compellingly demonstrates that it wasn't interracial sex that led to his downfall but his refusal to keep it-and Julia Chinn-behind closed doors"--  |c Provided by publisher. 
600 1 0 |a Chinn, Julia,  |d -1833. 
600 1 0 |a Johnson, Richard M.  |q (Richard Mentor),  |d 1780-1850. 
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650 0 |a Enslaved persons  |z Kentucky  |x Social conditions  |y 19th century. 
650 0 |a Interracial couples  |z Kentucky  |x History  |y 19th century. 
651 0 |a Kentucky  |x Race relations  |x History  |y 19th century. 
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