Gender, Wellness, and Spirituality: An Archaeology of African American Midwives

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dc.contributor.advisorBrown, Kenneth L.
dc.contributor.committeeMemberQuinn, Rachel Afi
dc.contributor.committeeMemberReed, Linda
dc.creatorBlack, Brandy Lee
dc.creator.orcid0000-0002-5832-5823
dc.date.accessioned2022-12-29T03:31:47Z
dc.date.available2022-12-29T03:31:47Z
dc.date.createdMay 2022
dc.date.issued2022-05-10
dc.date.updated2022-12-29T03:31:48Z
dc.description.abstractHistorically, African American midwives held leadership roles in their communities, nurturing and establishing Black womanhood through shared cultural heritage and stability. Religion and spirituality played an essential role in African American wellness and birth, and during enslavement, this role most often included forms of conjure. This magical tradition which invoked spiritual powers for healing and protection, is best illustrated through the crossroads ritual that signified the embodied power created through ancestral connections. Archaeologists can identify this past spiritual behavior through testing behavior models. A comparative analysis of crossroads ritual deposits recovered from three nineteenth century southern plantation sites indicates modifications were made to the crossroads ritual based on the vocation and use of space through time. Applying a Black Feminist framework reveals the gender specific spiritual innovations made by African American midwives. By the early twentieth century, health reform, laws, and regulations further changed midwifery's ritual and spiritual aspects. These innovations are distinctly connected to the sociopolitical context of each period that shaped the unique experiences of Black women and, more specifically, those of African American midwives. Research and questions about African American spirituality should explore ritual practice as more than religious acts and focus on how these behaviors and beliefs encompassed identity and personhood through everyday life.
dc.description.departmentComparative Cultural Studies, Department of
dc.format.digitalOriginborn digital
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10657/13155
dc.language.isoeng
dc.rightsThe author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s).
dc.subjectAfrican American Midwives
dc.subjectFeminist Archaeology
dc.subjectBlack Feminist Thought
dc.subjectCrossroads
dc.subjectMagic
dc.subjectRitual
dc.subjectHistorical Archaeology
dc.subjectArchaeology
dc.subjectGender
dc.subjectTwentieth Century Midwives
dc.subjectConjure
dc.subjectChildbirth
dc.subjectMidwifery
dc.subjectBlack Midwives
dc.subjectAfrican American Spirituality
dc.titleGender, Wellness, and Spirituality: An Archaeology of African American Midwives
dc.type.dcmiText
dc.type.genreThesis
thesis.degree.collegeCollege of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
thesis.degree.departmentComparative Cultural Studies, Department of
thesis.degree.disciplineAnthropology
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Houston
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts

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