Love Across the Color Line

by Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz (Editor), Kathy Peiss (Editor)

This book examines a remarkable collection of twenty-seven letters written by a white working-class woman to her African American lover in 1907 and 1908. Stuffed inside a black lace stocking, the letters were hidden under the floorboards of a house in Northampton, Massachusetts, until their recent discovery. Reflecting the passions and anxieties of the moment, the letters were written by Alice Hanley, the daughter of Irish Catholic immigrants, to Channing Lewis, a cook in Springfield. Since the thoughts and feelings of women like Hanley have usually been filtered through middle-class reformers, her words provide a rare window into a realm of American social life seldom explored by historians. The letters are accompanied by essays that skillfully probe their larger meanings. Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz introduces the letters, placing them in the context of their time, while journalist Phoebe Rolin Mitchell recounts the story of their discovery. Kathy Peiss explores Hanley's life, her negotiation of illicit love, and her desire for respectability, re-creating a dense and textured world of home, church, and town. Historian Louis Wilson unearths the trail left by Lewis and members of his extended family in Springfield. Reviewing the experiences of African Americans in that city, Wilson clarifies the economic, social, and political position of a black, middle-aged breadwinner during the difficult years of the early twentieth century.

Genres: Nonfiction, Race

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz is professor of history and American Studies at Smith College.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

An incredibly interesting (and for me, locally relevant) collection of letters written by a white woman to her black lover from the early 1900s - I found it fascinating both how much and how little could be discerned of their relationship from just one side of the letter writing, as well as what could then be gleaned from additional historical research. It makes me wish that more "ordinary life" like this could be preserved from our past and also makes me wonder how, if it were, our perspectives and beliefs about what life was like for different types of people would shift and change in response.

[Tatyana · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I do hope we will soon be together never to part until death & then after this wicked life I hope we will be together in heaven where there are no partings. I must be with you or I could not live. Don’t think I am bluffing for once I love it is forever."

"You know that a great deal of my happiness depends on you as I know you were always ready to advise me & I think I would never be the same if I had lost your affection. I suppose you will say I am selfish, well perhaps I am."

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the biases of the authors show in some of their inferences, this book was a stimulating read that told a fascinating story through exciting primary sources. I credit it for part of my desire to pursue the profession I have and still read it from time to time--not bad for a book assigned for a class!

[Sue Gross · Rating 2 out of 5]

What is considered love letters one hundred years ago does not qualify as that today.
One person black, one white. They lived in Mass.

There are letters from her (none from him) in this book, and then research findings.