“We Who Believe in Freedom”: Black Women Artists and Feminist Biography

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Abstract

This roundtable gathers a group of feminist scholars to discuss the joys and challenges of writing biographies of 20th-century Black women artists. While our projects differ, we share interests in the problems (and pleasures) of the archive; the vexed dynamic of Black women artists’ visibility and invisibility; and the challenges (and potentials) of biography as a means of intervening in cultural history, women’s history, and African American history. Each participant will start with a 5 to 7-minute introduction to her work. We will then move to moderated conversation among participants, before opening the roundtable up to conversation with the audience.

Sub Unit

• General Conference / Revisiting, Reclaiming & Re-imagining: Past, Present, Future 

Moderator

• Gayle Wald, George Washington University

Presenters

• Soyica Colbert, Georgetown University

• Ambre Dromgoole, Cornell University

• Maureen Mahon, New York University

• Dwandalyn Reese, National Museum of African American History and Culture