UA Professor to Discuss Her Book on ‘Clinging to Mammy’

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. Micki McElya, assistant professor of American studies at The University of Alabama, will discuss her new book, “Clinging to Mammy: The Faithful Slave in Twentieth-Century America” (Harvard University Press, 2007) on Tuesday, Nov. 27 at 4:30 p.m. in the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library reading room.

The Hoole Library is located on the second floor of Mary Harmon Bryant Hall on campus. The talk will be followed by a reception and book signing in the Hoole lobby.

McElya’s powerful book examines the far-reaching image of the nurturing, faithful enslaved woman and her hold on the American imagination. McElya exposes the power of the myth of ‘mammy,’ an omnipresent figure in popular culture — from film, song and literature, to advertising and our grocery store shelves, as well as in national monument proposals, child custody cases, white women’s minstrelsy, activism, anti-lynching campaigns and the Civil Rights movement.

These images have existed and persisted from the era of the Civil War to today. It is through her carefully researched and thought provoking narrative that McElya argues, “if we are to reckon with the continuing legacy of slavery in the United States, we must confront the depths of our desire for mammy and recognize its full racial implications.”

Scott Sandage, author of “Born Losers: A History of Failure in America,” says, “McElya shows vividly how ‘mammy’ serves as a perfect archetype for analyzing cultural politics of race and gender and how they changed. She gives us parlor theatrics, courtroom drama, legislative debate and movement politics. This is a wonderfully expansive book.”

A small exhibition of materials will be on display in the Hoole Library, curated by Portia Barker, graduate student in American studies and intern at the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library. McElya will refer to some of them in her talk.

This event is free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Jessica Lacher-Feldman at jlfeldma@ua.edu or at 205/348-0500. This event is sponsored by UA Libraries, and in part by the generous support of Dr. Lakey and Susan Tolbert.