A Southern Family in White and Black: The Cuneys of Texas

193 Pages·2002·1.397 MB·English

by  Douglas Hales

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 
   
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 
Texas A&M Southwestern Studies

S
A outhern
Family
in
White & Black
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               
Douglas Hales
Texas A&M University Press • College Station
Copyright ©  by Douglas Hales
Manufactured in the United States of America
All rights reserved
First edition
The paper used in this book
meets the minimum requirements
of the American National Standard for Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, .-.
Binding materials have been chosen for durability.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hales, Douglas, ‒
A southern family in white and black : the Cuneys of Texas /
Douglas Hales.—st ed.
p. cm.—(Texas A & M southwestern studies ; no. )
Includes bibliographical references and index.
 ––– (alk. paper)
. Cuney family. . Cuney, Norris Wright, –
. . African Americans—Biography. . Racially mixed
people—United States—Biography. . African American
politicians—Texas—Biography. . Texas—Politics and govern-
ment—–. . Texas—Race relations. . Cuney,
Philip Minor, b. . . Cuney-Hare, Maud, –.
. Texas—Biography. . Austin County (Tex.)—
Biography. . Title. . Series.
. . 
.''—dc 
       
List of Illustrations, vii
Preface, ix
Acknowledgments, xiii

 
. Philip Cuney: Politician and Slaveholder,
 
. Norris Wright Cuney: Labor and Civic Leader,
   
. Political Education, – ,
 
. New Leader of the Party,
 
. Party and Patronage,
 
. Maud Cuney: Education and Marriage,
 
. Maud Cuney-Hare: Musician, Director, Writer,
 
. Conclusion,

Notes,

Bibliography,

Index,

          

Norris Wright Cuney,

Mrs. Norris Wright Cuney,

Lloyd Garrison Cuney,

Maud Cuney-Hare,

      

In Ralph Ellison criticized what he saw as scholarly misperceptions
of African American history and culture: “Prefabricated Negroes are
sketched on sheets of paper and superimposed upon the Negro commu-
nity; then when someone thrusts his head through the pages and yells,
‘Watch out there, Jack, there’s people living under here,’ they are all
fl
shocked and indignant.” Ellison’s remarks re ected the state of black his-
tory and the demands of many involved in the civil rights movement of

the s. African Americans no longer accepted second-class citizen-
ship, racial stereotypes, or their exclusion from American history books.
  fi
By the late s and early s, colleges and universities nally heeded
the demands of black activists and began developing courses on African
American history and black studies programs. Since then, perceptions of
African Americans and their history have radically changed and have
fi ff
had a signi cant e ect on the scholarly understanding of American history.
One aspect of the black experience that historians have only recently
begun to explore is the African American elite of the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries. The majority of these people were the mulatto
descendants of white antebellum planters or northern free blacks. This
book explores the lives of Philip Minor Cuney, a white planter and Texas
politician; Norris Wright Cuney, his mulatto son and successful leader of
the Republican party in Texas; and Maud Cuney-Hare, the daughter of
Wright Cuney and a noted concert pianist, musicologist, and author.
Wright Cuney and his daughter represent two types of African Ameri-
can elites. Coming out of slavery as an educated mulatto, Wright Cuney
clearly had advantages over other black freedmen. His light complexion,
education, and background allowed Cuney to become a member of a
small black political leadership during Reconstruction. Afterward, Cuney
continued in this role but also became part of a growing black middle-
class. Like many other middle-class African Americans, he assumed a
larger role within the black community by pursuing the social betterment