The Making of "Mammy Pleasant": A Black Entrepreneur in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco (Women in American History) [Hardcover]

Lynn M. Hudson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Women in American History | Publication Date: November 18, 2002

Mary Ellen Pleasant arrived in Gold Rush-era San Francisco as a free black woman with abolitionist convictions and a predilection for entrepreneurial success. Behind the convenient and trusted disguise of 'Mammy', she transformed domestic labor into enterprise, amassed remarkable real estate, wealth, and power, and gained notoriety for her work in fighting Jim Crow. Pleasant's legacy is steeped in scandals and lore. Was she a voodoo queen who traded in sexual secrets? A madam? A murderer?In "The Making of Mammy Pleasant", Lynn M. Hudson examines the folklore of Pleasant's real and imagined powers. Emphasizing the significance of her life in the context of how it has been interpreted or ignored in the larger trends of American history, Hudson integrates fact and speculation culled from periodicals, court cases, diaries, letters, Pleasant's interviews with the San Francisco press, and various biographical and fictional accounts. Addressing the lack of a historical record of black women's lives, the author argues that the silences and mysteries of Pleasant's past, whether never recorded or intentionally omitted, reveal as much about her life as what has been documented. Through Pleasant's life, Hudson also interrogates the constructions of race, gender, and sexuality during the formative years of California's economy and challenges popular mythology about the liberatory sexual culture of the American West.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“For more than a century, Mary Ellen Pleasant’s reputation was as a voodoo queen, sorceress, madam and murderer. But thanks to [Hudson’s] new book, the legendary San Franciscan is reclaiming her identity as a savvy businesswoman, gutsy heroine, and early champion of civil rights.”--Los Angeles Times

“[Hudson] sifts through the scandal and the lore to conjure a remarkably enterprising woman.”--San Francisco Examiner

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Book Description

In The Making of "Mammy Pleasant," Lynn M. Hudson examines the folklore of Mary Ellen Pleasant's real and imagined powers. Addressing the lack of a historical record of black women's lives, Hudson argues that the silences and mysteries of Pleasant's past, whether never recorded or intentionally omitted, reveal as much about her life as what has been documented. The Making of "Mammy Pleasant" integrates fact and speculation culled from periodicals, court cases, diaries, letters, Pleasant's interviews with the San Francisco press, and various biographical and fictional accounts. Through Pleasant's remarkable life, Hudson also interrogates the constructions of race, gender, and sexuality during the formative years of California's economy and challenges popular mythology about the liberatory sexual culture of the American West.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press; First Edition edition (November 18, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 025202771X
• ISBN-13: 978-0252027710
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #879,395 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well done history of interesting person and time, July 25, 2007

By 

Alex Stewart (Milwaukee, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Making of "Mammy Pleasant": A Black Entrepreneur in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco (Women in American History) (Hardcover)

One can only criticize this book for the word "Mammy" in the title if one has not read the book. Note the quotation marks. A central theme in the book is the racial stereotypes and misperceptions of Mary Ellen Pleasant. Actually the book needs to focus on the racial context because of Pleasant's struggles for equality and because of her need to keep opaque many details of her life, personality and business affairs. Despite the somewhat sketchy nature of what we know of these matters, the topic is still fascinating and the book is pleasantly written.

1 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars She's No Mammy...., July 8, 2007

By 

sumra "sumra" (san francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Making of "Mammy Pleasant": A Black Entrepreneur in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco (Women in American History) (Hardcover)

I've done a little research on this powerful black woman who wanted to help black people become free of slavery and I came across her writings that she never wanted to be called Mammy. That's what the white mind saw her as and called her in those times. Why would someone want to call her Mammy in this day and age???

This is a reflection of the unconscious racism that exist in the minds of some white people today.;