Marie Jenkins Schwartz
Award Winning
Writer and Historian
BOOKS
Ties That Bound
Behind every great man stands a great woman. And behind that great woman stands a slave. Or so it was in the households of the Founding Fathers from Virginia, where American icons like Martha Washington, Martha Jefferson, and Dolley Madison dealt with the realities of a slaveholding culture directly and continually. By detailing the prevalence and prominence of slaves in the daily lives of the women who helped shape the country, Ties That Bound makes it clear that the stories of the early First Ladies cannot be understood without knowing the stories of their slaves.
Birthing a Slave
After the United States stopped importing slaves in 1808, the continuation of slavery depended on babies being born in bondage. In unprecedented ways, slaveholders and doctors began interfering with the health of enslaved women to foster pregnancy, cure infertility, and resolve gynecological problems. Distrustful of both the slaveholders and doctors whose treatments were largely ineffective and sometimes harmful, enslaved women preferred their own healing traditions. Birthing a Slave depicts the struggle that occurred on antebellum southern plantations, as both black women and white men sought to enhance the health of enslaved mothers—in very different ways and for entirely different reasons.
Born in Bondage
Each time a child was born in bondage, the system of slavery began anew. No one knew instinctively how to behave as a slave. Children had to be taught. Slaveholders insisted they learn to labor and be loyal. Parents wanted them to learn how to survive in a dangerous world, one in which a wrong word or even a wrong look could result in harsh punishment. Born in Bondage explores the daunting world of enslaved children to show how parents struggled to give children a sense of self and belonging as they learned to negotiate between acts of submission and selfhood, between the worlds of commodity and community.
IN THE PRESS
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On Ties That Bound: Schwartz outlines day-to-day household activities of mistresses and bound servants that supported the lavish lifestyle of three presidents. She addresses the complex and tense interrelationships that defined the drama of slaveholding. . . .[This] examination of the relationships between first ladies and their slaves will be of interest to all readers.
Library
Journal
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On Birthing a Slave: This remarkably researched and thorough book on pregnancy and childbirth among enslaved African-Americans demonstrates how the most personal and intimate aspects of slaves' lives were fraught with politics and power. . . .The narratives Schwartz weaves create a vivid, highly detailed portrait of women's lives under slavery, in turns that are both chilling (the casual brutality of slave-owners) and awe-inspiring (the strength and bravery of the enslaved).
Publisher's
Weekly
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On Born in Bondage: A significant study of the hardships of raising children in antebellum slavery. . . . The fluid writing is enlivened by oral histories, chapter notes, and striking photos. Essential reading for all who want to understand the complex and long-lasting forces pulling at America's antebellum slaves.
Kirkus
Reviews
BIO
As a writer and historian, I focus on United States history, especially stories about women, children, slavery, race, and medicine. I am proud to have received two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and other recognition, including awards from the Southern Association for Women Historians, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the John Nicholas Brown Center for the Study of American Civilization at Brown University, and the Organization of American Historians.
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My Ph.D. in history is from the University of Maryland, College Park, and I currently hold the position of professor emeritus of history at the University of Rhode Island, where for twenty years I taught courses on United States history and on slavery. I also served terms as executive director of the University’s Center for the Humanities and as chair of its history department.
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I have retired from teaching, but I still enjoy reading, researching, and writing history, which I do in Rhode Island, the beautiful Ocean State.
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Editorial Consulting
I am available for consultation about book projects in history at all stages of development. I have reviewed book proposals and manuscripts submitted to a variety of publishers: Palgrave Macmillan, University of Georgia Press, Cambridge University Press, University of North Carolina Press, New York University Press, Northern Illinois University Press, Oxford University Press, and Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group.
Book Proposals
If you want editorial advice concerning a nonfiction book proposal, please click on the email link below to inquire about my fee. Include a one-paragraph description of your project, and tell me in a sentence or two what type of guidance you believe you need. Include your phone number, and list a few times when you will be available to talk for approximately 20 minutes. (I will not charge to talk to you about your project, and I will let you know when to expect my call.) If we decide we are a good fit for each other, we will proceed from there.
Book Manuscripts
If you have a completed or nearly completed manuscript that you are readying for submission to a press or agent, I can read and offer advice on improving and polishing it. Please inquire about my fee by clicking the email link below. Before committing to work with each other, I will consult with you by phone about the stage of the manuscript's development and the type of editorial guidance that you think will help. I will not charge you for the advice I offer on this call. To set things in motion, include in your email a one-paragraph description of your book's thesis, along with a phone number and the best times to reach you. (I will let you know exactly when to expect my call, which should last about 20 minutes.)
SPEAKING
I enjoy speaking about my books and my approach to research and writing with general readers, students, and scholars. Recent engagements have included George Washington’s Mount Vernon, the 92nd Street Y in New York City, the Ocean State Writing Conference at the University of Rhode Island, the David Library of the American Revolution in Washington Crossing, PA, and the National Archives in Washington, DC. Please email to ask about my availability or to request an academic cv.