This week, Matthew welcomes Professor Anna Thomas, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of English and Drama at UTM with a special focus on African American Literature and Diaspora Studies.

Matthew and Professor Thomas will explore how early African American literature reflected and impacted changing attitudes towards slavery and what roles these literary works played in the growing abolitionist movements.

They will also discuss the influence of well-known works such as “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” by Harriet Jacobs (1861), ·“Twelve Years A Slave” by Solomon Northup (1853), “Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly” by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852), and many more books that can be found in our recommended readings for the week.

#ApartTogether we continue to explore #BlackHistory.

Recommended Reading:
“Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” by Harriet Jacobs (1861)
“Twelve Years A Slave” by Solomon Northup (1853)
“Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave” by Frederick Douglass (1845)
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly” by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852)
“The History of Mary Prince: A West Indian Slave Narrative” by Mary Prince (1831)
“Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown” by Henry Box Brown (1851)
“Demonic Grounds: Black Women and the Cartographies of Struggle” by Katherine McKittrick (2006)
“Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom” by William Craft (1860)
“Kindred” by Octavia Butler (1979)
“Beloved” by Toni Morrison (1987)

You are invited to email us questions you have about Mississauga and we encourage you to send a short (less than 1 minute) MP4 video of your question, which we may feature in one of our “Ask a Historian” videos.

Any questions not featured in our videos will receive a written response from Matthew.

We would also love to feature questions from young Mississauga residents who are curious about their city and will feature a dedicated video to these inquisitive kids.

Send your questions to us at: [email protected]