Woman of Color, Daughter of Privilege: Amanda America Dickson, 1849-1893

Amanda was the daughter of a 13-year-old Georgia slave who was raped by David Dickson, the white plantation owner in whose household she worked. Although legally a slave until 1864, Amanda was raised in luxury by Dickson and his mother. Leslie's outstanding scholarly detective work illuminates issues of race and class in the life of a woman who escaped the limits of both. After her marriage to a white man failed, Amanda returned with her two children to live with Dickson until his death in 1885. He bequeathed most of his fortune to her, angering his white relations, who contested the will. Despite the legal and social sanctions against interracial families in the post-Civil War South, the court upheld Dickson's will. Leslie, assistant professor of women's studies at Oglethorpe University, relates that Amanda purchased a luxurious home in Augusta and, before her death, was married briefly to Nathan Toomer, father of African American writer Jean Toomer. Excellent social history. Illustrations not seen by PW. (May)