What does one contested account of an enslaved woman tell us about our difficult racial past? Part history, part anthropology, and part detective story, The Accidental Slaveowner traces, from the 1850s to the present day, how different groups of people have struggled with one powerful story about slavery.
For over a century and a half, residents of Oxford, Georgia (“the birthplace of Emory University”), have told and retold stories of the enslaved woman known as “Kitty” and her owner, Methodist bishop James Osgood Andrew, first president of Emory’s board of trustees. Bishop Andrew’s ownership of Miss Kitty and other enslaved persons triggered the 1844 great national schism of the Methodist Episcopal Church, presaging the Civil War. For many local whites, Bishop Andrew was only “accidentally” a slaveholder, and when offered her freedom, Kitty willingly remained in slavery out of loyalty to her master. Local African Americans, in contrast, tend to insist that Miss Kitty was the Bishop’s coerced lover and that she was denied her basic freedoms throughout her life.
Mark Auslander approaches these opposing narratives as “myths,” not as falsehoods but as deeply meaningful and resonant accounts that illuminate profound enigmas in American history and culture. After considering the multiple, powerful ways that the Andrew-Kitty myths have shaped perceptions of race in Oxford, at Emory, and among southern Methodists, Auslander sets out to uncover the “real” story of Kitty and her family. His years-long feat of collaborative detective work results in a series of discoveries and helps open up important arenas for reconciliation, restorative justice, and social healing.
MARK AUSLANDER is an associate professor of anthropology and director of the Museum of Culture and Environment at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations Preface and Acknowledgments Prologue Part One. Memory, Myth, and Kinship 1. The Myth of Kitty 2. Distant Kin: Slavery and Cultural Intimacy in a Georgia Community Part Two. Slavery as a Mythical System 3. "The Tenderest Solicitude for Her Welfare": Founding Texts of the Andrew-Kitty Narrative 4. "As Free as I Am": Retelling the Narrative 5. "The Other Side of Paradise": Mythos and Memory in the Cemetery 6. "The Most Interesting Building in Georgia": The Strange Career of Kitty's Cottage Part Three. Families Lost and Found 7. Enigmas of Kinship: Miss Kitty and Her Family 8. "Out of the Shadows": The Andrew Family Slaves 9. Saying Something Now Appendix 1. Guide to Persons Mentioned in the Text Appendix 2. Timeline Appendix 3. Kitty's Possible Origins Appendix 4. Kitty's Children Appendix 5. The Greenwood Slaves, Postemancipation Notes Bibliography Index
