Love Across the Color Line : The Letters of title: Alice Hanley to Channing Lewis Horowitz, Helen Lefkowitz.; Peiss, Kathy author: Lee. publisher: University of Massachusetts Press isbn10 | asin: 1558490248 print isbn13: 9781558490246 ebook isbn13: 9780585083650 language: English Love-letters, Hanley, Alice-- Correspondence, White women--Biography, Lewis, Channing--Correspondence, African subject American men--Biography, Man-woman relationships, Massachusetts--Social life and customs. publication date: 1996 lcc: HQ801.3.L68 1996eb ddc: 306.7/092/2 Love-letters, Hanley, Alice-- Correspondence, White women--Biography, Lewis, Channing--Correspondence, African subject: American men--Biography, Man-woman relationships, Massachusetts--Social life and customs. Page iii Love Across the Color Line The Letters of Alice Hanley to Channing Lewis Edited by Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz and Kathy Peiss UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS PRESS Amherst Page iv Copyright © 1996 by Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz and Kathy Peiss All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America LC 95-49936 ISBN 1-55849-023-X (cloth); 024-8 (pbk.) Designed by Mary Mendell Set in Adobe Joanna by Keystone Typesetting, Inc. Printed and bound by Thomson-Shore, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Love across the color line: the letters of Alice Hanley to Channing Lewis / edited by Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz and Kathy Peiss. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 1-55849-023-X (cloth: alk. paper). ISBN 1-55849-024-8 (paper: alk. paper) 1. Love-letters. 2. Hanley, Alice Correspondence. 3. White womenBiography. 4. Lewis, ChanningCorrespondence. 5. Afro- American menBiography. 6. Man-woman relationships. 7. MassachusettsSocial life and customs. I. Horowitz, Helen Lefkowitz. II. Peiss, Kathy Lee. HQ801-3.L68 1996 306.7'092'2dc20 95-49936 CIP British Library Cataloguing in Publication data are available. Page v To our students and to the memory of Armstead Louis Robinson, 19471995, scholar, teacher, and friend Page vii Contents List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz The Letters 11 Unraveling the Mystery of the Letters 41 Phoebe Rolin Mitchell Love Across the Color Line 55 Kathy Peiss The Springfield of Channing Lewis, a Colored Man 119 Louis Wilson Page ix Illustrations Envelope and letter from Alice Hanley 10, 1315 Pamela See with letters 43 Hanley Family, ca. 1885 63 James Hanley 64 Hanley Gravestone 65 St. Mary's Church, ca. 1880 6667 Northamptom Commercial College 68 Northampton stables, ca. 1906 68 Northampton grocery store 69 Bay State Trolley 69 Advertisement for Easter clothing 95 Map of Springfield 12223 Channing Lewis, 1908 126 Unidentified photograph found with letters 127 39 Carew Street, Springfield 128 African American family, ca. 1900 128 Grade schoolchildren, Springfield, 1900 129 Black-owned restaurant, Springfield 130 Third Baptist Church, Springfield 130 St. John's Church, Springfield 130 Page xi Acknowledgments This has been a collaborative effort from its inception. Without Pamela See's foresight and imagination, the letters would not have been saved or shown to Phoebe Mitchell and historians at Smith College and the University of Massachusetts. The editors and authors are grateful to Pamela See for her careful protection of the letters and for her generosity in allowing them to be printed and photographed for this book. Smith College and the Graduate Research Council of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst provided funds to support this research. We are indebted to Paul Gaffney of the University of Massachusetts and to Patricia Vidil and Lauren Simonds at Smith College for their careful detective work. We especially appreciate the enthusiasm and persistence with which they tracked down local history sources. Family members have thoughtfully offered us time, memories, and insights. The late Teressia Hanley's interest in genealogy provided important background information, while Jim Hanley and Betty Hanley generously supplied family photographs. We are grateful to David Blight and an anonymous reader who offered helpful suggestions for revising the manuscript.