Christiana Carteaux Bannister
| Ein sex anaa gender | female  |
|---|---|
| Ein country of citizenship | United States |
| Birth name | Christiana Babcock |
| Name wey dem give am | Christiana |
| Family name | Babcock |
| Pseudonym | Madame Carteaux |
| Ein date of birth | 1819 |
| Place dem born am | North Kingstown |
| Date wey edie | 29 December 1902 |
| Place wey dem bury am | North Burial Ground |
| Spouse | Edward Mitchell Bannister |
| Languages edey speak, rep anaa sign | English |
| Ein occupation | hairdresser, entrepreneur, activist, businessperson |
| Residence | North Kingstown, Boston, Providence |
| Ethnic group | African Americans |
| Award e receive | Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame Women inductee |
Christiana Carteaux Bannister (née Babcock; 1819–1902) na she be an American business entrepreneur, hairdresser, den abolitionist insyd New England. Na dem know am professionally as Madame Carteaux. Na Christiana marry to successful artist Edward Mitchell Bannister, wey na she support am financially during de early stages of ein career.[1] While na dem overlook Christiana ein legacy insyd de past, na coverage of ein work insyd popular sources during de late 2010s bring new attention to ein success den political efforts.[2]
Biography
[edit | edit source]Na dem born Christiana Carteaux Bannister insyd 1819 insyd North Kingstown, Rhode Island.[3] Na she be born to African American den Narragansett Indian parents.[4] Na she be a descendant of enslaved Africans wey work de plantations of South County, Rhode Island, during de eighteenth century.[5] As a young woman, na she move go Boston wer na she work as a wigmaker den hairdresser.
Marriages
[edit | edit source]Na Christiana appear insyd de 1846 Boston directory dem list as a milliner. Records sanso dey state say na she marry Desiline Carteaux, a clothes dealer den cigar maker.Na ein marriage to Carteaux, wey na dem believe to be of Caribbean origin, na e no last.[5] Na de two lived on Beacon Hill insyd Boston, buh by 1850 na dem separate wey Christiana live plus paddies insyd Providence.
Insyd 1853 na Christiana den Edward Mitchell Bannister meet wen he apply for work as a barber insyd ein Boston salon.[3] Na she den Bannister marry on June 10, 1857. Bannister cam be one of de most successful Black artists secof Christiana Carteaux Bannister ein financial den emotional support.[1] Na he attribute much of ein success to Christiana for ein critical eye den ein business sense.[5] Insyd 1869, na de Bannisters move go Providence, Rhode Island, wey Christiana continue ein business as a hairdresser as well as ein activism.
Hairdressing business
[edit | edit source]As a young woman, na Christiana move from Rhode Island to Boston wer na she begin ein career as a wigmaker. Na she be professionally known as Madame Carteaux, Women's Hairdresser den Wigmaker.[6] Na she be a successful business entrepreneur, den self-styled "hair doctress," wey dey generate income by hairdressing den dey sell ein own hair products.[7] From 1847 to 1871 na Christiana Carteaux Bannister maintain chaw salons insyd Boston wey dey include on Cambridge, Washington, den Winter Streets. Wen na Christiana Carteaux Bannister den Edward Bannister move to Providence, na she open anoda salon insyd Providence.
Abolitionists
[edit | edit source]
While insyd Boston, na de Bannisters live den work plus abolitionist Lewis Hayden. Na de family participate insyd Lewis ein facilitation of de Boston Underground Railroad, wey dem dey provide dema hair salons as meeting places give African American den white abolitionists.[3]
Oda activism
[edit | edit source]During de Civil War, na Christiana Carteaux Bannister be an advocate for equal pay give Black soldiers. Insyd November 1864, na she organize a fair wey be sponsored by de Boston Colored Ladies Sanitary Commission make e benefit de African American regiments, de 54th den 55th Massachusetts den de 5th Massachusetts Cavalry, wey na dem serve for a year den a half widout pay rada dan accept less dan de white soldiers be paid.[8]
Insyd Providence, na she found de Home for Aged Colored Women wen na she learn about de struggles of African American women wey na dem work as domestics buh na dem be too old to work wey na dem often cam be homeless.[3] Na de home move from Transit St. to Dodge St. wey na dem rename am Bannister House, Inc.[9]
Death den legacy
[edit | edit source]Despite ein success thru out ein professional life, Bannister die plus little money insyd January 1903. Though na dem admit am into de Home for Aged Colored Women insyd September 1902, na Bannister reportedly live plus mental illness wey na dem transfer am to de Howard Asylum, na Lancaster report. Upon ein death, na dem lay am make she rest next to ein husby, wey na he die insyd January 1901 during a church prayer meeting, widout a grave marker.
Chaw years after ein death, na she begin dey receive more public recognition for ein contributions to society den Black history. Na dem induct Bannister into de Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame insyd 2003, den a bronze bust of am, wey based upon a portrait na Edward paint, wey na dem place am insyd de Rhode Island State House insyd December 2002.
References
[edit | edit source]- 1 2 Nelson, Charmaine A. (22 November 2023). "This Canadian won a global art prize in 1876. When the judges found out he was Black, they tried to reverse it". CBC. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
- ↑ Walk-Morris, Tatiana (February 9, 2018). "You've Probably Never Heard Of This Black Beauty Hero — But Here's Why You Need To". Bustle. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
- 1 2 3 4 "Christiana Carteaux Bannister". Rise & Grind. Archived from the original on May 22, 2014. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
- ↑ Lancaster, Jane (November 2001). "'I Would Have Made Out Very Poorly Had It Not Been For Her': The Life and Work of Christianna Bannister, Hair Doctress and Philanthropist" (PDF). Rhode Island History. 59 (4).
- 1 2 3 "Christiana Carteaux Bannister". Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
- ↑ Jacobs, Donald M. (1993). Courage and Conscience: Black & White Abolitionists in Boston. Indiana University Press. p. 162.
- ↑ Gates, Henry Louis (2004). African American Lives. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 46.
- ↑ Blatt, Martin H (2001). Hope & Glory: Essays on the Legacy of the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts Regiment. University of Massachusetts Press. p. 98.
- ↑ "Bannister House". Bannister House, Inc. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
Read further
[edit | edit source]- Davis, Karen A. "Christiana Carteaux Bannister (1819–1902): A supporter of the arts and social causes." Women in R.I. History: Making a Difference. Providence: Providence Journal Co, 1994.
- Laxton, Glenn. "Christiana Bannister." Hidden History of Rhode Island: Forgotten Tales of the Ocean State. Charleston, SC: The Henry Press, 2009.
- Block, Elizabeth L. (2011). Respecting hair: The culture and representation of American women's hairstyles, 1865–90 (Thesis). CUNY.
- Kearin, Madeline Bourque (1 December 2019). "Domesticating the Institution: Strategies of Alienation and Control in the Shelter for Colored Children and the Home for Aged Colored Women, Providence, RI". The Historian. 81 (4): 627–653. doi:10.1111/hisn.13247. S2CID 213670006.
- DuBois Shaw, Gwendolyn (2006). "Landscapes of Labor Race, Religion, and Rhode Island in the Painting of Edward Mitchell Bannister". Post-bellum, pre-Harlem : African American literature and culture, 1877-1919. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-3167-3.
- Hartigan, Lynda Roscoe (1985). Sharing traditions : 5 Black artists in 19.-century America. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Pr. ISBN 978-0874745139.
- Horton, James Oliver (1973). Black Activism in Boston, 1830-1860 (PhD). Brandeis University.
External links
[edit | edit source]- World Black History!
- Davis, Paul (24 August 2013). "5 Rhode Islanders who laid the groundwork for later activists". Providence Journal. Retrieved 3 January 2024., archived from original 21 October 2021
- 1819 births
- 1902 deaths
- Human
- African-American activists
- African-American abolitionists
- American abolitionists
- Native American activists
- African-American businesspeople
- African-American women insyd business
- People wey komot North Kingstown, Rhode Island
- People of Massachusetts insyd de American Civil War
- 19th-century American businesswomen
- 19th-century American businesspeople
- Burials at North Burying Ground (Providence)
- 20th-century African-American people
- 20th-century African-American women
- 19th-century Native American women
- 19th-century Native American people
- American hairdressers