Stormy Weather: Middle-Class African American Marriages between the Two World Wars

by Anastasia C. Curwood

Overview

The so-called New Negroes of the period between World Wars I and II embodied a new sense of racial pride and upward mobility for the race. Many of them thought that relationships between spouses could be a crucial factor in realizing this dream. But there was little agreement about how spousal relationships should actually function in an ideal New Negro marriage. Shedding light on an often-overlooked aspect of African American social history, Anastasia C. Curwood explores the public and private negotiations over gender relationships inside marriage that consumed upwardly mobile black Americans between 1918 and 1942.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807868386
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	11/29/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	216
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Anastasia C. Curwood is assistant professor of African American and diaspora studies at Vanderbilt University.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Curwood opens up a whole new field of inquiry within African American and gender studies while adding depth to our understanding of the 'New Negro' experience. This is a fantastic work of historical scholarship.—Davarian L. Baldwin, Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of American Studies, Trinity College



This is an insightful, complex, and important book on the history of marriage among African Americans. The poignant stories and in-depth analysis reveal how African Americans negotiated their views and relationships amid racial oppression and changing ideas about marriage in mainstream society.—Tera Hunter, author of To 'Joy my Freedom: Southern Black Women's Lives and Labors after the Civil War

Editorial Reviews

Recommended for academic libraries and public and special libraries with large African American history collections.—Tennessee Libraries



Curwood has initiated a virtually unprecedented conversation on the history of marriage among African Americans. . . .A must read. Essential. All levels/libraries.—Choice



Stormy Weather inaugurates a discussion of intimate life among African Americans that is sure to be lively and productive.—H-Net Reviews



A very good book and well worth reading.—Journal of Southern History



Curwood] is able to recreate the dynamics of a vibrant community of middle-class and elite African Americans who worked toward upward mobility even as they worked out intraracial issues of skin color and class. . . . [Its] clear and concise writing style as well as its lack of jargon makes it an accessible read.—Southern Historian



A welcome addition to the emerging interdisciplinary studies of love and marriage in African America from the inside out.—Journal of African American History

From the Publisher