Love across the color line: the letters of Alice Hanley to Channing Lewis

265 Pages·1996·2.1 MB·English

by  Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz

Love Across the Color Line : The Letters of
title:
Alice Hanley to Channing Lewis
Horowitz, Helen Lefkowitz.; Peiss, Kathy
author:
Lee.
publisher: University of Massachusetts Press
isbn10 | asin: 1558490248
print isbn13: 9781558490246
ebook isbn13: 9780585083650
language: English
Love-letters, Hanley, Alice--
Correspondence, White women--Biography,
Lewis, Channing--Correspondence, African
subject
American men--Biography, Man-woman
relationships, Massachusetts--Social life and
customs.
publication date: 1996
lcc: HQ801.3.L68 1996eb
ddc: 306.7/092/2
Love-letters, Hanley, Alice--
Correspondence, White women--Biography,
Lewis, Channing--Correspondence, African
subject:
American men--Biography, Man-woman
relationships, Massachusetts--Social life and
customs.
Page iii
Love Across the Color Line
The Letters of Alice Hanley to Channing Lewis
Edited by Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz
and Kathy Peiss
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS PRESS
Amherst
Page iv
Copyright © 1996 by
Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz and Kathy Peiss
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
LC 95-49936
ISBN 1-55849-023-X (cloth); 024-8 (pbk.)
Designed by Mary Mendell
Set in Adobe Joanna by Keystone Typesetting, Inc.
Printed and bound by Thomson-Shore, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Love across the color line: the letters of Alice
Hanley to Channing Lewis / edited by Helen
Lefkowitz Horowitz and Kathy Peiss.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 1-55849-023-X (cloth: alk. paper).
ISBN 1-55849-024-8 (paper: alk. paper)
1. Love-letters. 2. Hanley, Alice
Correspondence. 3. White womenBiography.
4. Lewis, ChanningCorrespondence. 5. Afro-
American menBiography. 6. Man-woman
relationships. 7. MassachusettsSocial life and
customs. I. Horowitz, Helen Lefkowitz.
II. Peiss, Kathy Lee.
HQ801-3.L68 1996
306.7'092'2dc20 95-49936
CIP
British Library Cataloguing in Publication data are available.

Page v
To our students
and to the memory of
Armstead Louis Robinson, 19471995,
scholar, teacher, and friend
Page vii
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz
The Letters 11
Unraveling the Mystery of the Letters 41
Phoebe Rolin Mitchell
Love Across the Color Line 55
Kathy Peiss
The Springfield of Channing Lewis, a Colored Man 119
Louis Wilson
Page ix
Illustrations
Envelope and letter from Alice Hanley 10, 1315
Pamela See with letters 43
Hanley Family, ca. 1885 63
James Hanley 64
Hanley Gravestone 65
St. Mary's Church, ca. 1880 6667
Northamptom Commercial College 68
Northampton stables, ca. 1906 68
Northampton grocery store 69
Bay State Trolley 69
Advertisement for Easter clothing 95
Map of Springfield 12223
Channing Lewis, 1908 126
Unidentified photograph found with letters 127
39 Carew Street, Springfield 128
African American family, ca. 1900 128
Grade schoolchildren, Springfield, 1900 129
Black-owned restaurant, Springfield 130
Third Baptist Church, Springfield 130
St. John's Church, Springfield 130
Page xi
Acknowledgments
This has been a collaborative effort from its inception. Without
Pamela See's foresight and imagination, the letters would not have
been saved or shown to Phoebe Mitchell and historians at Smith
College and the University of Massachusetts. The editors and authors
are grateful to Pamela See for her careful protection of the letters and
for her generosity in allowing them to be printed and photographed
for this book.
Smith College and the Graduate Research Council of the University of
Massachusetts at Amherst provided funds to support this research. We
are indebted to Paul Gaffney of the University of Massachusetts and
to Patricia Vidil and Lauren Simonds at Smith College for their
careful detective work. We especially appreciate the enthusiasm and
persistence with which they tracked down local history sources.
Family members have thoughtfully offered us time, memories, and
insights. The late Teressia Hanley's interest in genealogy provided
important background information, while Jim Hanley and Betty
Hanley generously supplied family photographs.
We are grateful to David Blight and an anonymous reader who offered
helpful suggestions for revising the manuscript.