About the book
What was it like to grow up black and female in the segregated South? To answer this question, LaKisha Simmons blends social history and cultural studies, recreating children’s streets and neighborhoods within Jim Crow New Orleans and offering a rare look into black girls’ personal lives. Simmons argues that these children faced the difficult task of adhering to middle-class expectations of purity and respectability even as they encountered the daily realities of Jim Crow violence, which included interracial sexual aggression, street harassment, and presumptions of black girls' impurity.
Simmons makes use of oral histories, the black and white press, social workers' reports, police reports, girls' fiction writing, and photography to tell the stories of individual girls: some from poor, working-class families; some from middle-class, “respectable” families; and some caught in the Jim Crow judicial system. These voices come together to create a group biography of ordinary girls living in an extraordinary time, girls who did not intend to make history but whose stories transform our understanding of both segregation and childhood.
Editions of Crescent City Girls
- Paperback
- ISBN 9781469622804
- EBook
- ISBN 9781469622828
- EBook
- ISBN 9798890842602
- EBook
- ISBN 9781469622811
- PDF
- ISBN 9798890842596
Read an Excerpt
What was it like to grow up black and female in the segregated South? To answer this question, LaKisha Simmons blends social history and cultural studies, recreating children’s streets and neighborhoods within Jim Crow New Orleans and offering a rare look into black girls’ personal lives. Simmons argues that these children faced the difficult task of adhering to middle-class expectations of purity and respectability even as they encountered the daily realities of Jim Crow violence, which included interracial sexual aggression, street harassment, and presumptions of black girls' impurity.
Simmons makes use of oral histories, the black and white press, social workers' reports, police reports, girls' fiction writing, and photography to tell the stories of individual girls: some from poor, working-class families; some from middle-class, “respectable” families; and some caught in the Jim Crow judicial system. These voices come together to create a group biography of ordinary girls living in an extraordinary time, girls who did not intend to make history but whose stories transform our understanding of both segregation and childhood.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Crescent City Girls about?
What was it like to grow up black and female in the segregated South? To answer this question, LaKisha Simmons blends social history and cultural studies, recreating children’s streets and neighborhoods within Jim Crow New Orleans and offering a rare look into black girls’ personal lives. Simmons argues that these children faced the difficult task of adhering to middle-class expectations of purity and respectability even as they encountered the daily realities of Jim Crow violence, which included interracial sexual aggression, street harassment, and presumptions of black girls' impurity.
Simmons makes use of oral histories, the black and white press, social workers' reports, police reports, girls' fiction writing, and photography to tell the stories of individual girls: some from poor, working-class families; some from middle-class, “respectable” families; and some caught in the Jim Crow judicial system. These voices come together to create a group biography of ordinary girls living in an extraordinary time, girls who did not intend to make history but whose stories transform our understanding of both segregation and childhood.
What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in Crescent City Girls?
Society and Social Sciences > Society and culture: general > Social groups, communities and identities > Ethnic studies / Ethnicity
Where can I read a sample of Crescent City Girls?
You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9781469622804
How long is Crescent City Girls and how many pages does it have?
Crescent City Girls has 282 page(s)
Is Crescent City Girls part of a series, and can it be read as a standalone?
Yes it is a part of series Gender and American Culture
Who is/are the Author/s of the book Crescent City Girls?
LaKisha Michelle Simmons
What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?
Crescent City Girls is available as paperback(ISBN 9781469622804) and ebook(ISBN 9781469622828) and ebook(ISBN 9798890842602) and ebook(ISBN 9781469622811) and pdf(ISBN 9798890842596)
Where can I buy Crescent City Girls online or support local independent bookshops?
You can buy Crescent City Girls from below
Where can I buy Crescent City Girls?