Hannah Mary Tabbs and the disembodied torso
Subtitle: a tale of race, sex, and violence in America
By: Kali Nicole Gross
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 220
ISBN-13: 9780190241216
Subjects: Race relations; Murder; Racially mixed people; Family violence; Case studies; African American women; Social conditions; African Americans; History
Description: Shortly after a dismembered torso was discovered by a pond outside Philadelphia in 1887, investigators homed in on two suspects: Hannah Mary Tabbs, a married, working-class, black woman, and George Wilson, a former neighbor whom Tabbs implicated after her arrest. As details surrounding the shocking case emerged, both the crime and ensuing trial brought otherwise taboo subjects such as illicit sex, adultery, and domestic violence in the black community to public attention. At the same time, the mixed race of the victim and one of his assailants exacerbated anxieties over the purity of whiteness in the post-Reconstruction era.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 157-211) and index.
Table of contents: title: Prologue; title: Handle with care; title: The woman found; title: To do him bodily harm; title: Wavy hair and nearly white skin; title: Held for trial; title: A most revolting deed; title: Epilogue.