National Humanities Center, “African American Marriage in the Twentieth Century: A Conversation,” with Andrea Williams For centuries marital status has been an important social marker, providing access to a variety of legal rights, and contributing to a sense of social stability. Further, since marriage has been seen as fundamental to preserving social and familial norms, it has been considered a central element for ensuring socio-economic success and social respectability among African Americans and others. In this scholarly conversation, two of…

Marriage can be an indicator of a people’s access to the American vision of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Discover what rates of post-Civil War marriage for African Americans signal about the larger prospects not just for African American people, but also all Americans.

Emancipation Day Program: Bound in Wedlock: Slave and Free Black Marriage in the Nineteenth Century by Tera W. Hunter Saturday, Nov 3, 1pm Tera W. Hunter offers the first comprehensive history of African American marriage in the nineteenth century. She reveals the practical ways couples adopted, adapted, or rejected white Christian ideas of marriage, creatively setting their own standards for conjugal relationships under conditions of uncertainty and cruelty. A book signing will follow. Included with Museum admission.