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Antoinette Harrell

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Antoinette Harrell (born c. 1960[1]) is an American historian, genealogist, and civil rights activist. She is known for her research on the post-slavery peonage of African-American sharecroppers in the southern United States.[2][3]

Career

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Much of Harrell's work involves tracing the lineage of African-American families in the southern United States, where they were often subject to local and state laws, known as Black Codes, that made it possible for whites to retain control over them, often in conditions that were reminiscent of those during the existence of chattel slavery.[4] Harrell had been active in local genealogical research in Louisiana since around 1994, when she began researching her own family's history as slaves. She began giving lectures on the subject, and was approached by a woman (Mae Louise Miller) who stated that she had been enslaved up until recently in Mississippi.[2][5][1] Mae Louise Miller's life story came to light when she spoke to Harrell about it;[6][7] Harrell highlighted it in the short documentary The Untold Story: Slavery in the 20th Century (2009), which Harrell executive produced.[8] According to testimony gathered by Harrell, conditions like this persisted through the 20th century, with some people remaining trapped in debt bondage through the 1970s,[4][9] a notable instance being a family held on a modern-day plantation in Killona, Louisiana.[1] As a family historian, Harrell conducts this research by interviewing living descendants and families of people who were subjected to these 20th-century debt bondage systems, as well as by reviewing deeds, census information, and records from local archives and libraries[2] and even those from the National Archives in Washington, D.C.[10]

Harrell has been involved in lawsuits pertaining to the history of slavery and forced debt bondage of African Americans, including a class action suit brought by Louisiana residents against corporations that were known to have historically financed or otherwise benefited from slavery, including Aetna Insurance, CSX Railroad, and Lloyd's of London.[11][12] Most of the defendant corporations were involved in the insurance or transportation industries, and were alleged to be liable for having insured, transported, or owned slaves.[13]

Materials collected by Harrell, including photographs and recorded oral histories, are kept in a collection by Southeastern Louisiana University.[14][15] Her research is also archived at the Amistad Research Center at Tulane University, in New Orleans.[3][16] She has publicized her research through numerous books and feature articles in Louisiana media including The Drum and Jozef Syndicate La, as well as a local access television show called Knowing Your Family History, a weekly video discussion called Nurturing Our Roots, and has hosted Youth Genealogy Camps, where students are able to trace family histories through the same methods that she uses in her research.[16]

Bibliography

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  • Harrell, Antionette (2000). You are My Shadow: The Harrell's Genealogy and Historical Identity. Sunrise Press. ISBN 978-0967727905.
  • Harrell, Antionette (2010). Nurturing My Family Tree: Genealogy for Children. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1468580600.
  • Harrell, Antionette (2014). Department of Justice: Slavery, Peonage, and Involuntary Servitude. Antoinette Harrell. ISBN 978-0967727998.
  • Harrell, Antoinette; Smith, Leonard (2019). African Americans in Tangipahoa and St. Helena Parishes. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1467102643.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Thibodeaux, Anna (June 11, 2018). "Research shows slaves remained on Killona plantation until 1970s". St. Charles Herald Guide. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  2. ^ a b c Harrell, Antoinette; Fornal, Justin (February 27, 2018). "Black People in the US Were Enslaved Well into the 1960s". Vice Media. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  3. ^ a b Render, Felicia D. (July 8, 2021). "In the Shadows of History: Documenting the Activism of Antoinette Harrell". Amistad Research Center. Tulane University. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  4. ^ a b "Black children were fed to hogs". The Miami Times. July 24, 2019. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  5. ^ Letzter, Rafi (February 28, 2018). "Black People Were Enslaved in the US Until as Recently as 1963". Live Science. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  6. ^ "Sisters: We Were Modern-Day Slaves". ABC News.
  7. ^ Livingston, Kojo (February 27, 2012). "The Hard Truth - Black history: Stolen stories". The Louisiana Weekly. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  8. ^ Josh Johnston (director); Antoinette Harrell (executive producer) (2009). The Untold Story: Slavery in the 20th Century (Motion picture). Untold Legacy Productions. OCLC 864271202. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Sisters: We Were Modern-Day Slaves". ABC News. January 6, 2006. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  10. ^ "About Us". peonagedetective.com. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  11. ^ "More lawsuits seeking slave reparations". Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. September 4, 2002. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  12. ^ Walsh, Conal (March 27, 2004). "Slave descendants sue Lloyd's for billions". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  13. ^ Inniss, Lolita Buckner (Summer 2010). "A Critical Legal Rhetoric Approach to In Re African-American Slave Descendants Litigation Slave Descendants Litigation". Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development. 24 (4) – via Journals at St. John's Law Scholarship Repository.
  14. ^ "Antoinette Harrell Collection". Southeastern Louisiana University. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  15. ^ "Antoinette Harrell - Biography". Louisiana Book Festival. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  16. ^ a b "Young Black Students at U.S. Genealogy Camp Trace Their Roots - Higher Education". Diverse: Issues In Higher Education. August 10, 2005. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
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