Liner Notes Vol. 1, Track 2 – Hilary Green

This week, we talk with historian Hilary Green, whose social media posts about writing, research, reading, and process are so inspiring. In addition to her many publications, she has also has captured research about race, slavery, and memory at the University of Alabama in the Hallowed Grounds project. Her book, Educational Reconstruction: African American Schools in the Urban South, 1865–1890, is available from Fordham University Press.

In this episode, we talk about purple pens, an ingenious way to keep track of books loaned, how notes can form a personal intellectual history of each book, and spaces for writing, editing, and reading. And, if you listen carefully, Rutherford B. Hayes the cat makes a contribution!

Be sure to check out her posts from her research for Black History Month, under the tags #slaveryua and/or #BlackHistoryMonth2021.

Her posts feature details about people enslaved at the University of Alabama, and she offers photographs, archival documents, architectural details and more. Posts follow the documentary trail and biographies of a number of individuals.

Day 11: Binkey is one of the few children born at the University of Alabama. Her mother and other women who labored in the President’s Mansion taught her the necessary skills to survive the institution. President Manly recorded the event in his diary.#BlackHistoryMonth2021 pic.twitter.com/MW3vDcmGm1

— Dr. Hilary Green (@HilaryGreen77) February 11, 2021

Day 13: Archy is another one of the few children born at the University of Alabama. Like Binkey, he is entered into his first hiring out contract around his tenth birth. #slaveryua #BlackHistoryMonth2021 pic.twitter.com/K5abMzmW00

— Dr. Hilary Green (@HilaryGreen77) February 13, 2021

Day 14: Archy survives slavery. He enters into this contract with Manly in mid-1865. However, he will one of the many families to leave the Manly planation after Binkey’s mutiny. #slaveryua #BlackHistoryMonth2021 pic.twitter.com/kfCe2OHMKF

— Dr. Hilary Green (@HilaryGreen77) February 14, 2021