cover image Freedom Papers: An Atlantic Odyssey in the Age of Emancipation

Freedom Papers: An Atlantic Odyssey in the Age of Emancipation

Rebecca J. Scott and Jean M. H%C3%A9brard. Harvard, $35 (288p) ISBN 978-0-674-04774-7

In this well-researched and readable family history, Scott (Degrees of Freedom) and H%C3%A9brard (Assumed Identities) recount the remarkable story of the Tinchants across generations and continents. As people of color, the Tinchants struggled, survived, and flourished%E2%80%94in Senegal, Cuba, New Orleans, Antwerp, and Paris; and through the Haitian Revolution, French Revolution of 1848, the Civil War and Reconstruction in the U.S., and WWII in Europe. While the particularity of this story adds to the intrigue, the authors' impulse to write about the family is not entirely clear, though extensive citation of various documents%E2%80%94including speeches, personal letters, and even a baptismal record%E2%80%94show that Scott and H%C3%A9brard have invested an enormous amount of time and effort into telling their tale. Navigating the turbulent political and social waters of their various contexts, members of the Tinchant family often found themselves in "delicate position[s]," as in Joseph's attempt to sustain amiable contacts with the white customers of his retail store in New Orleans at the height of the Civil War. Throughout, the "family emerges as one with a tenacious commitment to claiming dignity and respect." Scott and H%C3%A9brard's rendering of the Tinchant family's story is historically enlightening and inspiring. Map and family tree. (Feb.)