DANBURY, CONN. — Dr. Rita Reynolds, assistant professor of American history, African-American history and Women’s history at Wagner College in New York, studies a very complex part of African-American history. “It’s difficult to fathom the notion that within a slave society you had African Americans who were wealthy,” said Reynolds, who will discuss “Wealthy Free Women of Color in Charleston, South Carolina During Slavery” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 2, in Warner Hall on the Western Connecticut State University Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. The event will be free and the public is invited.

The talk will be an examination of the social conditions of wealthy, free woman in antebellum Charleston, S.C. Reynolds, whose mother’s family is from Charleston, said, “My case study is about five women who came to their wealth in different ways. I was fascinated and disappointed that nothing had been written on this particular group.”

Reynolds has been working on this subject for a number of years. “One of the things I have noticed is that the topic itself causes people to really think about their perceptions,” she said. “Not all African Americans were slaves. Some were free. Some were actually wealthy. African-American history is not monolithic. There is a good deal of diversity in terms of wealth and education. Each story that’s told is very different from the next person’s story — even in the same community.”

The means by which these women were able to obtain their wealth and freedom varied greatly, too, Reynolds said. “The women were vulnerable to the whims and desires of their masters. Some were able to succeed because of affection from their masters. In other cases, former slaves were able to obtain benefits from the relationship with their masters and were able to negotiate rights including freedom for themselves and their children.”

John Read, a member of the WCSU Graduate Student Union, which is hosting the lecture, said the talk promises to be interesting because “During an age of slavery, these women of color prospered.”

 

Reynolds obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in photography from the California Institute of the Arts, a Master of Arts degree in photography from New York University and an M.A. in Afro-American Studies from the University of California. She also has a Ph.D. in Afro-American Studies from the University of Massachusetts.

For more information, call (203) 837-8486.

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