page_title: Sylvia Dubois
section_title: Silvia Dubois: A Biografy of the Slav who Whipt Her Mistres and Gand Her Fredom
hierarchical_section_title: Sylvia Dubois / Silvia Dubois: A Biografy of the Slav who Whipt Her Mistres and Gand Her Fredom
caption_attribution_description: English: Sample text of Dr. C.W. Larison's orthography in Silvia Dubois&#160;: a biografy of the slav who whipt her mistres and gand her fredom.
context_page_description: Sylvia Dubois, also spelled as Silvia Dubois or Sylvie Dubois, was an African-American woman born into slavery who became free after striking her slave mistress. After gaining her freedom, Dubois moved to New Jersey where she lived with her children until her death. A physician by the name of C.W. Larison decided to document the life of Dubois and her journey to freedom in the book Silvia Dubois A Biografy of the Slav who Whipt Her Mistres and Gand Her Fredom.
context_section_description: C.W. Larison, the writer of Sylvia Dubois' biography Silvia Dubois (Now 116 Yers Old) A Biografy of the Slav who Whipt Her Mistres and Gand Her Fredom, was a physician and former educator interested in documenting local history. He first met with Dubois at Cedar Summit in January 1883 to interview her. He met her a total of three times before releasing her biography.
  Larison wrote the book in a phonetic orthography of his own creation. Historian Jared C. Lobdell edited, translated the phonetic spelling, and wrote an introduction for a new publication of Dubois’ biography by Larison.
  The authenticity of Dubois' stories as told to Larison are debated. Lobdell cautions that Dubois' story bridges the line between history and folklore, but that it has value as an account of "social history." He directly challenges Dubois' assertion that she was 116 at the time of her interviews by finding historical evidence to the contrary.  However, English professor DoVeanna S. Fulton criticizes Lobdell's labeling of the story as folklore because it gives history with documentation privilege over oral history.
caption: Sample text of C.W. Larison's orthography in Silvia Dubois : a biografy of the slav who whipt her mistres and gand her fredom
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