Slavery in 19th Century Life & Literature with Linda F. Earls, PhD

Linda F. Earls

From newspaper accounts to personal narratives to essays, we’ll analyze the everyday lives of slaves on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the 19th century. What harrowing and unique challenges did females face? Males? How did slaves work together and independently to outwit their masters, and at what cost? How did they endure the ever-changing and ever-unpredictable Maryland weather? We’ll retrace the journey of slaves such as Frederick Douglass, whose life began on the Wye Plantation of Talbot County, and ended on his own estate of Cedar Hill in Washington, D.C. To imagine what life would have been like for him, we will take a virtual tour of both estates. Please join us for what promises to be a memorable session!

Linda Earls began teaching at Chesapeake College in 1995 as an adjunct faculty instructor to the English department but was hired as a full-time professor in 1997 (teaching reading, composition and literature courses, particularly American and African American literature). She frequently coteaches American literature with American history professors, as she believes the two courses go “hand in glove.” A lover of history, she hasan extensive collection of Civil War letters, and since childhood has been fascinated visiting and reading anything pertaining to the war. A native of the Eastern Shore, Earls shares her passion for making history “come alive” with her students by traveling with them to locations such as Cedar Hill in Washington, D.C. (former home of Frederick Douglass); the Wye House & Plantation (where Douglass was kept as a slave); the Edgar Allan Poe House in Baltimore; and many other local sites. She received her BA in English and her MA in Literature from Salisbury University, and worked on her PhD in American Literature at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.Choose between Live ZOOM Class Sessions or Recorded. Wednesdays, April 7, 14 from 1:00-2:30 pm $20. To register for the course, or for more information about Chesapeake Forum Winter/Spring 2021 classes go to our website at https://chesapeakeforum.org/ or visit us on Facebook.