Enslaved Women and the Feeding of the Enslaved in the Antebellum US South

This talk will develop some themes from my current book project on the labour of care in the living quarters in the antebellum US South, especially the labour associated with feeding enslaved people. Enslavers wanted the enslaved to eat with maximum efficiency at minimal cost, so they attempted to impose regimented, institutional style feeding regimes on their plantations and farms. Most of this labour fell upon enslaved women, for whom feeding has a duality as a form of gendered exploitation, but also a means by which women found pleasure, nurture, and empowerment through the cooking, preparation, and consumption of food. Routinely tasked with the feeding of infant and babies, which sometimes involved the practice of wet-nursing, enslaved women also cooked for and fed older children and other adults throughout the working day and sometimes in the evenings as well. These women performed a vital role but have yet to be centred in our analysis of slavery’s machinations and enslavers’ drive for efficiencies.

If you wish to attend in person, please email [email protected].

Event Venue

Online