Date of Award
Spring 5-2011
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.F.A.
Degree Program
Film, Theatre & Communication Arts - Creative Writing concentration
Department
Film, Theatre, and Communication Arts
Major Professor
Bates, Randolph
Second Advisor
Hazlett, John
Third Advisor
Steeby, Elizabeth
Fourth Advisor
Harvey, Miles
Abstract
Lightless Mornings: A Fine Legacy represents a personal interrogation and historical account of my great-great -great grandfather, W.D. McCurdy’s use of forced labor in his coalmines and cotton plantations in the Black Belt region of Alabama during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Through personal research including interviews with other descendents of McCurdy, as well as scholarly research about the practice of convict leasing in Alabama, I explore dynamics of inheritance, economics, power, privilege, race, class, geography, history, family, and identity.
Recommended Citation
Zeanah, Emily, "Lightless Mornings: A Fine Legacy" (2011). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 445.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/445
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.