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Acknowledgments
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ix Acknowledgments Many colleagues, students, and friends have supported my work for Claiming Exodus. I acknowledge Gladys D. S. Lewis, my friend in the fray, as well as Carey C. Newman, my thoughtful, enthusiastic editor at Baylor University Press, along with Team Baylor, who were attentive to details at every step of the production process. I am especially grateful for my college friend Mitzi Smith, who connected me with Carey Newman at BUP. In the earliest stages of the project, John Ernest served as my careful reader, Carla L. Peterson as my dissertation director, Barry Pearson as my folklife and folklore consultant, and Joycelyn Moody as the first publisher of a portion of this monograph in African American Review. Then my colleagues at Clemson University, particularly Cameron Bushnell, Erin Goss, Michael LeMahieu, Brian McGrath, Angela Naimou, Barbara Ramirez, Elizabeth Rivlin, and Elisa Sparks, provided valuable feedback on my early drafts and musings about my proposal and manuscript, and cheered each success during the research and writing process. Clemson graduate assistants Fredrika Salley and Antonio Shaw assisted with archival research projects. Students in my African American and American Literature classes at Clemson have read and discussed key texts with me, providing fresh perspectives to the works. I could not have completed my work without the generous grants from Clemson University’s College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities x ACkNoWLEDGMENTS and Department of English. And I acknowledge the exceptional research assistance provided by the staff at the American Antiquarian Society, the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center of Howard University, and the Library of Congress. As my project progressed, my recovery of critical primary texts was also continually eased by fine online resources such as the Library of Congress’ Digital Archives, Cornell University’s Chronicling America, Florida Memory, the Digital Archive, New York Public Library’s Digital Archive, and Google Books, an unparalleled digital repository for pre-twentiethcentury publications. I am also thankful to a host of friends and family who have always buoyed me with their praise and confidence, particularly my brothers, Donald E. Robinson and Carlton D. Robinson, my sister-in-law, Ingrid Robinson, my cousin, Cheryl kisunzu, and my daddy, Earle B. Robinson. Most of all, I appreciate my husband, William L. Thomas Jr.—thoughtful listener, reliable walking encyclopedia, cherished soul mate. ...