Title: The life and writings of Betsey Chamberlain : Native American mill worker /
Authors: Ranta, Judith A., 1953-
Publisher: Northeastern University Press,
Year: 2003
Subjects: Chamberlain, Betsey Guppy,; Textile workers United States Biography.; Indians of North America Biography.; Textile industry in literature.
Abstract: "During the 1830s and 1840s, Betsey Guppy Chamberlain (1797-1886), a mixed-race writer of English and Algonkian heritage, labored in the textile mills of Lowell, Massachusetts, where she penned colorful stories and sketches for two workers' magazines -- the Lowell Offering and The New England Offering. A courageous and pioneering author, Chamberlain wrote the earliest known Native American fiction and published some of the earliest prose to challenge the persecution of Native people and affirm their dignity and worth.
Contents: Illustrations -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- I. Biographical and critical introduction -- Piecing together a portrait ; Chamberlain's life and family ; Chamberlain's writings -- II. Betsey Chamberlain's writings : texts -- 1. Native tales and dream visions -- Fire-side scene ; Indian pledge ; New society ; Reverie ; Sabbath morning ; Vision of truth ; Visit to a grave-yard -- 2. Unprivileged sex : women's concerns -- Aunt Dear Soul ; Cousin Mary ; Fortune-telling : a narrative of Salmagundi ; Last witch of Salmagundi ; Letter about old maids ; Old maids and old bachelors. Their relative value in society ; Origin of small talk ; Recollections of an old maid. Number 1 ; Recollections of an old maid. Number 2 ; Recollections of an old maid. Number 3 ; Witchcraft -- 3. Our town : village sketches -- Black glove ; Christmas ; First dish of tea ; First wedding in Salmagundi ; Husking ; La Brainard ; Old farm-house ; Our town : how it looked ; Our town. Number 2. Our meeting house ; Our town. Number 3. Our pulpit ; Prayer in a sick-room ; Recollections of my childhood ; Whortleberry excursion : a true narrative ; Sugar-making excursion ; Tribute to Salmagundi ; Winter evening --Appendix A : Pedigree chart -- Appendix B : Brief chronology of Betsey Guppy Chamberlain's life -- Appendix C : Chronological listing of writings ; Notes to preface and introduction -- Notes to Chamberlain's writings.