The Cherokee syllabary, created by Sequoyah in the early nineteenth century, is among the most remarkable inventions in the modern history of literacy. Ellen Cushman shows us what it made possible for a community of Cherokee men in an Oklahoma penitentiary during the 1950s.
Transcript link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r41rDKqha4q8N7NZQCrN2wNDJ_3pvf5S/view?usp=sharing
Explore Hidden Literacies at https://www.hiddenliteracies.org
Learn more about Ellen Cushman’s work here: https://cssh.northeastern.edu/faculty/ellen-cushman/
Hidden Literacies brings together leading scholars of historical literacy to investigate the surprising, often neglected roles reading and writing have played in the lives of marginalized Americans—from indigenous and enslaved people to prisoners and young children. By presenting high-resolution images of archival texts and pairing them with expert commentary, Hidden Literacies aims to make these writers and texts—which too often lie below the radar of American literature curricula—more available and accessible to teachers and researchers.
Hidden Literacies is edited by Christopher Hager and Hilary Wyss.
Christopher Hager is Professor of English at Trinity College, where he teaches courses in American literature and American Studies.
Hilary E. Wyss is the Allan K. Smith and Gwendolyn Miles Smith Professor of English at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where she teaches courses in early American literature, American studies, and Native American studies.
Hidden Literacies was produced with the support of the following staff members of Trinity College Information Technology & Library Services:
Cait Kennedy, Research, Outreach, and Technology Librarian
Mary Mahoney, Digital Scholarship Coordinator
Joelle Thomas, Digital Learning & Discovery Librarian
Hidden Literacies: the Podcast was recorded, edited, and produced by Mary Mahoney.
Sound Credits:
“Crescents” by Ketsa (Free Music Archive)
