Hidden Literacies

Trailer

Hidden Literacies brings together leading scholars of historical literacy to investigate the surprising, often neglected roles reading and writing have played in the lives of marginalized Americans—from Indigenous and enslaved people to prisoners and young children.  By presenting high-resolution images of archival texts and pairing them with expert commentary, Hidden Literacies aims to make these writers and texts—which too often lie below the radar of American literature curricula—more available and accessible to teachers and researchers. This podcast includes interviews with contributors to Hidden Literacies and explores how they discovered these fascinating examples of literacy, how they interpret them, and why they matter. Explore Hidden Literacies at https://www.hiddenliteracies.org [https://www.hiddenliteracies.org] Transcript: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16pZw0llfV0E5qGHuj392N00Lv-JIGj37/view?usp=sharing [https://drive.google.com/file/d/16pZw0llfV0E5qGHuj392N00Lv-JIGj37/view?usp=sharing] Sound Credits: “Crescents” by Ketsa (Free Music Archive)

Interview with Ellen Cushman on “Letters and Characters”

The Cherokee syllabary, created by Sequoyah in the early nineteenth century, is among the most remarkable inventions in the modern history of literacy. Ellen Cushman shows us what it made possible for a community of Cherokee men in an Oklahoma penitentiary during the 1950s. Transcript link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r41rDKqha4q8N7NZQCrN2wNDJ_3pvf5S/view?usp=sharing [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r41rDKqha4q8N7NZQCrN2wNDJ_3pvf5S/view?usp=sharing] Explore Hidden Literacies at https://www.hiddenliteracies.org [https://www.hiddenliteracies.org] Learn more about Ellen Cushman’s work here: https://cssh.northeastern.edu/faculty/ellen-cushman/ [https://cssh.northeastern.edu/faculty/ellen-cushman/] Hidden Literacies brings together leading scholars of historical literacy to investigate the surprising, often neglected roles reading and writing have played in the lives of marginalized Americans—from indigenous and enslaved people to prisoners and young children.  By presenting high-resolution images of archival texts and pairing them with expert commentary, Hidden Literacies aims to make these writers and texts—which too often lie below the radar of American literature curricula—more available and accessible to teachers and researchers. Hidden Literacies is edited by Christopher Hager and Hilary Wyss. Christopher Hager is Professor of English at Trinity College, where he teaches courses in American literature and American Studies. Hilary E. Wyss is the Allan K. Smith and Gwendolyn Miles Smith Professor of English at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where she teaches courses in early American literature, American studies, and Native American studies. Hidden Literacies was produced with the support of the following staff members of Trinity College Information Technology & Library Services: Cait Kennedy, Research, Outreach, and Technology Librarian Mary Mahoney, Digital Scholarship Coordinator Joelle Thomas, Digital Learning & Discovery Librarian Hidden Literacies: the Podcast was recorded, edited, and produced by Mary Mahoney. Sound Credits: “Crescents” by Ketsa (Free Music Archive)

Interview with Kelly Wisecup on “Accounting for Mary Fowler Occom”

An account of household purchases may seem trivial or banal, but in the case of the Indigenous woman Mary Fowler Occom--whose history lies in the shadow of her better-known husband, the Mohegan preacher Samson Occom, who himself labored in the shadow of his erstwhile mentor, the founder of Dartmouth College--the details of housekeeping shine a light on what's otherwise hidden. Transcript link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LdRacQYobq0HqSO6S2bfqOq-OAhMNxcd/view?usp=sharing [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LdRacQYobq0HqSO6S2bfqOq-OAhMNxcd/view?usp=sharing] Explore Hidden Literacies at https://www.hiddenliteracies.org [https://www.hiddenliteracies.org] Learn more about Kelly Wisecup’s work here: https://english.northwestern.edu/people/faculty/wisecup-kelly.html [https://english.northwestern.edu/people/faculty/wisecup-kelly.html] Hidden Literacies brings together leading scholars of historical literacy to investigate the surprising, often neglected roles reading and writing have played in the lives of marginalized Americans—from indigenous and enslaved people to prisoners and young children.  By presenting high-resolution images of archival texts and pairing them with expert commentary, Hidden Literacies aims to make these writers and texts—which too often lie below the radar of American literature curricula—more available and accessible to teachers and researchers. Hidden Literacies is edited by Christopher Hager and Hilary Wyss. Christopher Hager is Professor of English at Trinity College, where he teaches courses in American literature and American Studies. Hilary E. Wyss is the Allan K. Smith and Gwendolyn Miles Smith Professor of English at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where she teaches courses in early American literature, American studies, and Native American studies. Hidden Literacies was produced with the support of the following staff members of Trinity College Information Technology & Library Services: Cait Kennedy, Research, Outreach, and Technology Librarian Mary Mahoney, Digital Scholarship Coordinator Joelle Thomas, Digital Learning & Discovery Librarian Hidden Literacies: the Podcast was recorded, edited, and produced by Mary Mahoney. Sound Credits: “Crescents” by Ketsa (Free Music Archive)

Interview with Caroline Wigginton on “Visions, Versions, and Deeds”

At first glance, the archives show her to be Mary Bosomworth, wife of an English colonist, bereft of a voice or any rights separate from his.  But a careful reading reveals Coosaponakeesa, a Creek "language bearer," whose multiple modes of literacy reflect multiple versions of a distinct self: a Native woman navigating the English social and political world. Transcript link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1InAInX8xYJAHGsJ5Aa0LBZKhOQuXC9Ur/view?usp=sharing [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1InAInX8xYJAHGsJ5Aa0LBZKhOQuXC9Ur/view?usp=sharing] Explore Hidden Literacies at https://www.hiddenliteracies.org [https://www.hiddenliteracies.org] Learn more about Caroline Wigginton’s work here: https://english.olemiss.edu/caroline-wigginton/ [https://english.olemiss.edu/caroline-wigginton/] Hidden Literacies brings together leading scholars of historical literacy to investigate the surprising, often neglected roles reading and writing have played in the lives of marginalized Americans—from indigenous and enslaved people to prisoners and young children.  By presenting high-resolution images of archival texts and pairing them with expert commentary, Hidden Literacies aims to make these writers and texts—which too often lie below the radar of American literature curricula—more available and accessible to teachers and researchers. Hidden Literacies is edited by Christopher Hager and Hilary Wyss. Christopher Hager is Professor of English at Trinity College, where he teaches courses in American literature and American Studies. Hilary E. Wyss is the Allan K. Smith and Gwendolyn Miles Smith Professor of English at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where she teaches courses in early American literature, American studies, and Native American studies. Hidden Literacies was produced with the support of the following staff members of Trinity College Information Technology & Library Services: Cait Kennedy, Research, Outreach, and Technology Librarian Mary Mahoney, Digital Scholarship Coordinator Joelle Thomas, Digital Learning & Discovery Librarian Hidden Literacies: the Podcast was recorded, edited, and produced by Mary Mahoney. Sound Credits: “Crescents” by Ketsa (Free Music Archive)

Interview with Karen Sanchez-Eppler on "Juvenile Journalism and Genocide"

A group of boys in 1890s New Hampshire played at writing, editing, and publishing a manuscript magazine about an elaborate fictional world based on their own back yard.  Their writing deftly mimicked the real world of children's periodicals -- and unwittingly illuminated the violent social reality young white men were entering in the U.S. of the late nineteenth century. Transcript link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u3DNMi8N0XdcUdpKnbrCwgtfYEq_cLJX/view?usp=sharing [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u3DNMi8N0XdcUdpKnbrCwgtfYEq_cLJX/view?usp=sharing] Explore Hidden Literacies at https://www.hiddenliteracies.org [https://www.hiddenliteracies.org] Learn more about Karen Sanchez-Eppler’s work here: https://www.amherst.edu/people/facstaff/kjsanchezepp [https://www.amherst.edu/people/facstaff/kjsanchezepp] Hidden Literacies brings together leading scholars of historical literacy to investigate the surprising, often neglected roles reading and writing have played in the lives of marginalized Americans—from indigenous and enslaved people to prisoners and young children.  By presenting high-resolution images of archival texts and pairing them with expert commentary, Hidden Literacies aims to make these writers and texts—which too often lie below the radar of American literature curricula—more available and accessible to teachers and researchers. Hidden Literacies is edited by Christopher Hager and Hilary Wyss. Christopher Hager is Professor of English at Trinity College, where he teaches courses in American literature and American Studies. Hilary E. Wyss is the Allan K. Smith and Gwendolyn Miles Smith Professor of English at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where she teaches courses in early American literature, American studies, and Native American studies. Hidden Literacies was produced with the support of the following staff members of Trinity College Information Technology & Library Services: Cait Kennedy, Research, Outreach, and Technology Librarian Mary Mahoney, Digital Scholarship Coordinator Joelle Thomas, Digital Learning & Discovery Librarian Hidden Literacies: the Podcast was recorded, edited, and produced by Mary Mahoney. Sound Credits: “Crescents” by Ketsa (Free Music Archive)