“A Curious List and a Trip to Sierra Leone:’ Or, Why Obour Tanner Bought Rev. Hopkins’ The System of Doctrines in 1793?”

OI Colloquium with Tara Bynum

“‘A Curious List and a Trip to Sierra Leone:’ Or, Why Obour Tanner Bought Rev. Hopkins’ The System of Doctrines in 1793” takes a look at an oddly placed list of subscribers. It’s among the subscribers to Hopkins’s System of Doctrines, and its title is “Free Blacks.”  While it might be easy to ignore the curious list because of its lack of information, there is far more to learn about who these “Free Blacks” are and what they hope to accomplish with the purchase of Hopkins’ lengthy tome.

Tara Bynum is an assistant professor of English and African American Studies at the University of Iowa where her research and teaching seek the many ways black people feel good in the eighteenth century. Her monograph, Reading Pleasure, is under contract with University of Illinois Press’ New Black Studies Series; it was made possible, in part, with the generous support of fellowships at the Library Company, John Carter Brown Library and Washington College, the American Antiquarian Society and Rutgers University.

About OI colloquia

The OI’s Colloquium Series is an ongoing seminar for scholars to present their work in progress for graduate students and colleagues.  Advanced registration is required. All participants read the pre-circulated  paper and prepare to engage in generous and generative feedback.

When we meet in person we are limited by the size of the OI’s conference room; online we limit registration to 40 (a typical size for the colloquium). No recordings are made of the discussions and no tweeting or posting on other social media platforms during the event is permitted in order to encourage this intellectual community of trusted exchange.

COPIES OF THE COLLOQUIUM PAPER ARE AVAILABLE ONE WEEK IN ADVANCE.

Contact Beverly Smith to receive your copy.