Research Catalog

Title

First martyr of liberty : Crispus Attucks in American memory / Mitch Kachun.

Author

Kachun, Mitchell A. (Mitchell Alan)

Publication

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2017]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xi, 308 pages : illustrations, maps; 25 cm

Summary

"First Martyr of Liberty explores how Crispus Attucks's death in the 1770 Boston Massacre, often cited as the first man to die in the American Revolution, led to his achieving mythic significance in African Americans' struggle to incorporate their experiences and heroes into the mainstream ofthe American historical narrative. While the other victims of the Massacre have been largely ignored, Attucks is widely celebrated as the first to die in the cause of freedom during the era of the American Revolution. He became a symbolic embodiment of black patriotism and citizenship. This book traces Attucks's career through both history and myth to understand how his public memory has been constructed through commemorations and monuments; institutions and organizations bearing his name; juvenile biographies; works of poetry, drama, and visual arts; popular and academichistories; and school textbooks. There will likely never be a definitive biography of Crispus Attucks since so little evidence exists about the man's actual life. While what can and cannot be known about Attucks is addressed here, the focus is on how he has been remembered - variously as either ahero or a villain - and why at times he has been forgotten by different groups and individuals from the eighteenth century to the present day." -- Provided by the publisher.

Subjects

• Revolutionaries
• African Americans
• Attucks, Crispus, -1770
• Biography
• Revolutionaries > Massachusetts > Boston > Biography
• Boston Massacre (1770)
• African Americans > Biography
• Boston Massacre, 1770
• Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.)
• Massachusetts > Boston
• Attucks, Crispus, -1770 > Influence
• 1770

Genre/Form

Biography.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Who was this man? -- The dustbin of history: Crispus Attucks and American amnesia, 1770s-1840s -- First martyr of liberty: Crispus Attucks and the struggle for citizenship in the Civil War era -- Crispus Attucks meets Jim Crow: the segregation of American memory, 1870s-1910s -- Crispus Attucks meets the new Negro: Black history and Black heroes between the world wars -- Crispus Attucks meets Dorie Miller: Black patriotism and activism in the World War II era -- Crispus Attucks and the Black freedom struggle, 1950s-1970s -- Crispus Attucks from the bicentennial to the culture wars, 1970s-1990s -- Crispus Attucks in twenty-first century America.

Call Number

Sc E 17-1556

ISBN

• 9780199731619
• 0199731616

LCCN

• 2017003265
• 40027300115

OCLC

975367767

Author

Kachun, Mitchell A. (Mitchell Alan), author.

Title

First martyr of liberty : Crispus Attucks in American memory / Mitch Kachun.

Publisher

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2017]

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Connect to:

Available to Stanford-affiliated users.

Chronological Term

1770

Other Standard Identifier

40027300115

Research Call Number

Sc E 17-1556