African American Women of the Old West

by Tricia Martineau Wagner

The brave pioneers who made a life on the frontier were not only male—and they were not only white. The story of African-American women in the Old West is one that has largely gone untold--until now. The story of ten African-American women is reconstructed from historic documents found in century-old archives. The ten remarkable women in African American Women of the Old West were all born before 1900, some were slaves, some were free, and some lived both ways during their lifetime. Among them were laundresses, freedom advocates, journalists, educators, midwives, business proprietors, religious converts, philanthropists, mail and freight haulers, and civil and social activists.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography, African American, Womens Studies, Adult

170 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2007

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not disappointed that I bought this book. I think the premise was good and the stories are important. However, the chapters (each woman had her own) were too short. The author summarized rather than told a story. There were no foot or end notes, just a bibliography at the end. Since the author chose not to go into much depth with each women, I'd like to turn to the source documents for more information. Direct citations would have been helpful. Overall, the writing was sloppy, which may be because the research was sloppy, but this doesn't make the subject matter less appealing.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating stories but less than sophisticated writing. It seems that research was done but it was more of an introduction to these women, leaving me wanting to find the actual accounts that these simplistic stories were spun around.

[Lyzette Wanzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book in--of all places-- a general store in Oregon's High Desert. True cowboy and cattle-branding country. At the time I'd been living in California for nine years, and had been curious about the history of African Americans in the early west beyond the prototypical buffalo soldiers. There didn't seem to be a whole lot of information on the topic. Then, while I was at a writing residency in the middle of nowhere, I happened to find this gem in an old-fashioned general store. It's quite a fascinating tour through a group of women, the majority of whom I'd never heard of before (cultural erasure at its finest). I recommend this if you're curious about the unlauded imprints black women have left on the Old West.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to read off minority points of view in a landscape and era seldom highlighted.

[Amy]

I picked up this read for several reasons; I am a general history buff and I have had an odd fascination with reading about different figures from the old west and life during this time, not to mention, i love reading about notorious women figures. I have never come across a book about notorious historical women of the old west that were African-American; in fact, I feel like the general literature and knowledge available today has very little to do with African-American women of this time frame (much less most times in history). As such, I HAD to read it. I will say that this book was nothing special when it came to the writing style and did not make me feel like I was reading the next major Goodreads Book of the Year nomination. I also think that this author, while starting to discuss the realities of slavery, prejudice, discrimination, and Jim Crow Era legislation, otherwise glazed completely over these historical impacts and did less justice to demonstrating the amazing feats that these women did overcome with these factors in mind. However, with all this being said, I did appreciate that this author gave these women recognition for their accomplishments, even if provided with an understatement of what they accomplished in spite of being both a woman and African-American in the 1800s. This book receive 3 stars from me for this reason, in that I learned about 10 different women that I would otherwise not have known about, and I appreciate the author's diligence in attempting to give these women voices in current times. I hope that this could be a stepping stone for other authors to further give these women justice and incorporate their stories into the larger fabric of American history discussions.

[Sandra The Old Woman in a Van · Rating 3 out of 5]

My assessment of this book is similar to other reviewers. The over premise is great, the wome are interesting and it reframes the typical understanding that the west was settled excusively by white people. However; once I started I thought I had inadvertenly picked up a middle school oriented book. But the book is not targeted to youth as far as I can tell. With that note, my assessment is low regarding the level of writing. It read like an average research paper by a person in middle or high school. It was a quick read and I recommend it to people wanting to fill out some high level information about this topic.

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. I love reading books about African Americans especially African American women who fought hard to survive and to make a name for themselves. These are women that you won't find in any high school history book which is very sad. Thanks to Tricia M. Wagner for writing this beautiful book and letting the world know that they existed and that their struggle and hard work didn't go unnoticed.

[Sabrina Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's always a huge gap in history surrounding women, especially women of color. With what little was recorded, this book sheds light on some amazing women in the Old West. As the intro says: The account of black women in history is like an old patchwork quilt with missing threads and holes: a story incomplete in its details, yet treasured for what it once was.

This book was extremely well-researched. The chapter about Mary Ellen Pleasant is one of the most concise summaries I've read without the usual crazy stories that accompany any mention of Mrs. Pleasant.

[Erin Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A highly engaging and readable account of ten Black women of the American West. Includes well known figures like Mary Fields and Mary Ellen Pleasant as well as many I had never heard of. Each woman's story is told in a narrative style that summarizes the evidence from historical sources, without those sources getting in the way of feeling the personalities of each figure. Also includes photographs of most of the women discussed, which I found really emotionally impactful. Highly recommended for readers from middle school through adulthood.

[Gail DiVico · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of ten African American Women who made their way in the old west even though they were enslaved and discriminated against. All of them contributed so very much in the United States in those years. Their perseverance was admirable, and they paved the path for future generations to come. Before reading this book, I didn't know about any of them, and it sure was an eye-opener. I highly recommend this book to all ages from middle school on up.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book for several reasons: 1) I am a big history buff and have been on a kick to read about notorious individuals of the Old West for the last few years, 2) I love reading about strong historical women, and 3) never have I ever come across a book about African-American women of the Old West. While I appreciate the purpose of what this author set out to do in honoring these important women, I also find that this book was lackluster and did not do full justice to these women. First of all, the writing was less than spectacular. I could not find myself engaging with the text like I have with other writers of historical nonfiction. I also believe that, while mention is made of the historical realities of slavery, discrimination, prejudice, and Jim Crow Era legislation, I feel that placing more emphasis on the fact that these individuals were AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN could have been so much more if these facts were highlighted and reiterated in the telling of these stories. The fact that these women accomplished what they did is not a simple feat for their time and experiences; they superseded so many additional barriers that others would not have faced due to either (or both) gender and ethnicity. These women were at the bottom of the social ladder, and yet climbed to the top because of their diligence, patience, strength, and drive to succeed. Many also did so simply to give back to the community, not even considering their own well-being and wealth as factors for achieving as they did. I think this book deserves either a second edition with rewrites, and/or additional work in bringing these figures to life in other sources of historical information; these women absolutely deserve to be seen and heard, and I sincerely hope that this book can launch additional insight and further research into the lives of these amazing black women.

[Shannon Levy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am simply happy to learn more about these strong female African American pioneers of the Southwest. These stories could easily and shamefully gotten lost. I am inspired be each woman’s strength and perseverance and have much appreciation for these stories being told.

[April Robinson-Kain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource for black women's history

[Eric Graves · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good start but there could have been more.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too short biographies of ten women.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the stories and themes throughout was women who corresponded from afar with someone with whom they shared ideals. The zeal and enthusiasm to make a difference in the world.

[Jason Scoggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent stories from women that helped develop ideals not only on the west coast but in America is a whole

[S H · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started well but it never really felt like it lived up to the title

[Dominique · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great research! You can tell they took their time trying to get every detail right. There was a lot of love and respect put into this book and it shows.

[Diamond · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for black women history ! Know the names and stories of the many great black women who opened many doors for us to continue the fight of excellence
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

[Lenora Good · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent introduction to the contributions African American Women made in the opening of the Old West. Wagner profiles 10 women of indomitable courage who went through whatever it required to get where they wanted to get.

I am a bit disappointed there were no stories of African American women who helped settle the Inland Empire of Oregon, Washington, & Idaho – but that's probably due to the fact there were none. Those who came went on to Portland or Seattle.

I think my favorite character, and she was, indeed, a character was Mary Fields, aka Stagecoach Mary, though it's difficult to pick a favorite.

Ms. Wagner did her research, and told each story with care and attention to detail, without bogging the story down in nothing but facts. This book should be in every history class in every high school in the country. Not just in the class, but taught.

I look forward to reading Wagner's book, It Happened on the Underground Railroad. If I have to find a negative remark about this book, it is only that it was too short. I would like to have read a great deal more about many of these women. Oh, wait, I can do that, can't I? ;-)

If you're a history buff, as I am, I heartily recommend this book. Job well done, Ms. Wagner. Job well done.

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The intent of this book is excellent: to illustrate the roles played by African American women in development of the western United States by profiling ten women who moved to Utah, Oregon, Washington state, Colorado and California in the nineteenth century.

However, the actual book didn't live up to my expectations. All of the mini-biographies started with a vignette about something that may have happened in the subject's life, but then went back to a chronological history and didn't tie the event in. There was a lot of "presumably", "probably" and "it isn't known...".

Some of the women were born free and were educated. Others were raised in slavery. At least one was a member of the Mormon church. But because the writing style was similar for each biography, I doubt that I will remember which woman did what.

[Athena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two star was for the history I didn't know. I enjoyed that immensely. What I didn't enjoy was the terrible writing. I agree with the other reviews that stated that citations are badly needed as a lot of the writing appeared to be conjecture.

[Tricia Martineau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remarkable stories about African American women whose strength and determination forged the path and opened doors for those who followed in their footsteps. These trailblazers defied all odds to civilize and settle the Old West.

[Mills College Library]

305.48 W135 2007