The Accidental Slaveowner: Revisiting a Myth of Race and Finding an American Family

Contents

Contents List of Illustrations ix Preface and Acknowledgments xi Prologue 1 Part One. Memory, Myth, and Kinship 1 The Myth of Kitty 9 2 Distant Kin: Slavery and Cultural Intimacy in a Georgia Community 40 Part Two. Slavery as a Mythical System 3 “The Tenderest Solicitude for Her Welfare”: Founding Texts of the Andrew-Kitty Narrative 67 4 “As Free as I Am”: Retelling the Narrative 98 5 “The Other Side of Paradise”: Mythos and Memory in the Cemetery 128 6 “The Most Interesting Building in Georgia”: The Strange Career of Kitty’s Cottage 151 Part Three. Families Lost and Found 7 Enigmas of Kinship: Miss Kitty and Her Family 183 8 “Out of the Shadows”: The Andrew Family Slaves 235 9 Saying Something Now 271 viii Contents Appendix 1. Guide to Persons Mentioned in the Text 295 Appendix 2. Timeline 311 Appendix 3. Kitty’s Possible Origins 319 Appendix 4. Kitty’s Children 327 Appendix 5. The Greenwood Slaves, Postemancipation 333 Notes 341 Bibliography 359 Index 367 ...