Login

Publications  •  Project Statistics

Glossary  •  Schools  •  Disciplines
People Search: 
   
Title/Abstract Search: 

Dissertation Information for Brandi Clay Brimmer

NAME:
- Brandi Clay Brimmer

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- History

SCHOOL:
- University of California, Los Angeles (USA) (2006)

ADVISORS:
- Laura F. Edwards
- Naomi Lamoreaux

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Janice L. Reiff
- Cheryl Harris

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: All her rights and privileges: African-American women and the politics of Civil War widows' pensions

Abstract: n 1866, the Military Pension Bureau recognized the sacrifice of formerly enslaved African-American Union soldiers by creating policies that extended financial support to their families. Retroactively recognizing slave marriages, viewed by the federal government as merely honoring its obligation to male soldiers and their dependent families, opened up a new arena for newly freed African-American women to claim and define new rights for themselves. Freedwomen, however, did not embrace the idea that nuclear marriage and familial relations formed the only basis for their rights as Civil War widows. Expressing their own concepts of marriage, family, and morality in their petitions, these women challenged the Bureau's definition of widowhood and the meaning of marriage itself in pension law.

This study challenges central historiographical assumptions that tend to isolate poor black women in the South from larger political currents in the late-nineteenth century. This dissertation connects African-American women's efforts to obtain rights within the Military Pension Bureau to turn-of-the-century women's reform movements. "All Her Rights and Privileges" analyzes the political content of poor women's claims in eastern North Carolina.

I interpret the interaction over Civil War widowhood through a case study of Craven County in eastern North Carolina. Craven County is the ideal place to analyze the relationship between African-American women and federal government because the Union Army raised over 5,000 black men for the United States Colored Troops (USCT) in this region. From the Civil War through the turn-of-the century, African-Americans comprised the majority of the population in both counties. Savvy biracial political alliances translated into an impressive amount of political power for black professionals at the county level well into the late nineteenth century. By drawing attention to debates over federal aid at the local level, my approach illuminates how African-American women, as well as local professionals, and Bureau representatives shaped the outcome of the application process.

MPACT Scores for Brandi Clay Brimmer

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-08-07 14:57:11

Advisors and Advisees Graph

generating graph, please reload

Students under Brandi Clay Brimmer

ADVISEES:
- None

COMMITTEESHIPS:
- None