Emma Dunham Kelley-Hawkins

Emma Dunham Kelley-Hawkins (November 11, 1863–October 22, 1938) was an American writer, and author of the novel "Four Girls At Cottage City" (1895). An earlier novel, "Megda" (1891) was published under her maiden name of Emma Dunham Kelley.

The author was long considered a pioneer of African-American women's literature. Her novel was rediscovered by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and served as an inspiration for him to compile the 40-volume "Schomburg Library of Nineteenth-Century Black Women Writers" in 1988. While many African American writers dealt explicitly with issues of race, Kelley-Hawkins' work did not treat themes of racial uplift. This treatment is similar to fiction by other Black-authors of the period, including selected work by Frances Harper, Frank Webb, Paul L. Dunbar and Amelia E. Johnson, for example. Kelley-Hawkins did, however, deal with African-American reform issues.

Recent genealogical research appears to indicate that Kelley-Hawkins was in fact, white or identified herself as white. (National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume 94, No. 1, March 2006)

References

* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2838/is_3_40/ai_n27099592 Harris, Jennifer. "Black like?: The strange case of Emma Dunham Kelley-Hawkins." "African American Review", Fall, 2006.]
* Shockley, Ann Allen. "Afro-American Women Writers 1746-1933: An Anthology and Critical Guide", New Haven, Connecticut: Meridian Books, 1989. ISBN 0-452-00981-2
*cite book
last= Gates, Jr.
first= Henry Louis
authorlink= Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
title= The Schomburg library of nineteenth-century Black women writers
url= http://digital.nypl.org/schomburg/writers_aa19/toc.html
format=
accessdate= 2008-07-05
year= 1988
month=
publisher= Oxford University Press
location= New York
language=
isbn= 978-0195052671
ref= Schomburg

External links

* [http://www.us.oup.com/us/catalog/general/series/TheSchomburgLibraryofNineteenthC/ Home page for The Schomburg Library of Nineteenth-Century Black Women Writers]
* [http://www.plastic.com/article.html;sid=05/03/02/10155368;cmt=11 Plastic.com: The Rise and Fall of Emma Dunham Kelley-Hawkins]
* [http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2005/02/20/mistaken_identity/ Boston Globe: Mistaken Identity by Holly Jackson]
* "National Genealogical Society Quarterly" Volume 94, No. 1, March 2006 ŭA Case of Mistaken Racial Identity: Finding Emma Dunham (née Kelley) Hawkins. http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/pubsquarterly.cfm (by Katherine E. Flynn, Ph.D., CG)
* [http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/26410.html History News Network: The Latest on Emma Dunham Kelley Hawkins] (by Caleb McDaniel)
* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4543971 The Truth About Emma Dunham Kelly-Hawkins] (by Farai Chideya)