BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Research by Eric Gardner ’89 has uncovered what may be the first book of plays published by an African-American writer.
Gardner will share his discovery in an article titled “Forgotten Manuscripts: William Jay Greenly’s Antebellum Temperance Drama,” which will appear in the next issue of African American Review. He is professor, Braun Fellow and chair of English at Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan.
In addition to being a possible first, Gardner said Greenly’s work, The Three Drunkards, helps in understanding the wide scope of such literature.
“Several critics and students assume that early black literature consists solely of stories of the South that were published in New York, Boston or Philadelphia,” Gardner said.
Greenly, who was living as a free man in Indiana when he published the book of plays in 1858, breaks that mold.
“That presence in an unexpected place suggests that early black print culture was much more diverse in terms of location than we’ve been led to think,” said Gardner.
The play’s temperance theme also shows the diversity of early black literature. “[The play] is further evidence that the North’s free African Americans were involved in a rich range of antebellum moral reform activities,” he said.
Gardner’s early work and teaching emphasizes a broad look at cross-racial American literature and culture, but in recent years he has become more interested in early black literature and recovery efforts.