history schmistory

[tosei]

I'm thinking I might go to grad school after I get done with my BA...Lisa's experience in teaching middle school has made me realize that I would much rather teach in college, even if it's at a junior college or something. I would love to be a world history or poli sci professor. The reason I'm thinking about this right now is that I have this

Comments

[jbarron]

it's fascinating to me that OK had so many black-founded towns... this sounds like a great paper!

Is there much information about the dynamics between the black settlers and the Native Americans in the state at the time? It might be interesting to explore, since you mentioned government-sponsored relocation/genocide of the Jews to the Russian town... it strikes me as odd to hear members of one oppressed minority seem to do the same thing to another by considering "settling" Indian territory.

[tosei]

the native american element is actually one of the most interesting parts of the black towns movement...the native americans who moved to oklahoma from the southeast in many cases owned plantations and owned slaves, although the relationship between native americans and their slaves was quite different, with many intermarrying and becoming members of the tribe, (especially the seminoles, which absorbed many fugitive slaves during their war with the us government when they were hiding in the everglades) Anyway, becaause these "freedmen" were often enrolled members of native american tribes, when the US government carved up communally owned tribal lands, they were given fairly sizable plots of land, which they would sometimes donate to become the site of an all black town. Boley itself was built on land donated by a creek freedman. There were all sorts of interesting tensions and dynamics in play in early oklahoma in the relationships between black native americans, black migrants from the south, native americans, white american

[tosei]

speaking of black native americans, it makes me smile to know that the very redneck heavy town of Chattanooga gets it's name from the cherokee word for "black warrior".

[resolutepeasant]

My son's mother's great grandfather was a doctor in Prague and the only white person allowed in Boley after dark

[tosei]

I think it was sartre who said that everything in history happens twice, first as tragedy, then as farce. Regardless of how you feel about sartre, that's hard to argue with.