The Vice President's Black Wife - (A Ferris and Ferris Book) by Amrita Chakrabarti Myers

Book Synopsis

Award-winning historian Amrita Chakrabarti Myers has recovered the riveting, troubling, and complicated story of Julia Ann Chinn (ca. 1796-1833), the enslaved mixed-race wife of Richard Mentor Johnson, owner of Blue Spring Farm, veteran of the War of 1812, and US vice president under Martin Van Buren. Johnson never freed Chinn, but during his frequent absences from his estate, he delegated to her the management of his property, including Choctaw Academy, a boarding school for Indigenous men and boys. This meant that Chinn had substantial control over economic, social, financial, and personal affairs within the couple's world, including overseeing Blue Spring's enslaved labor force. Chinn's relationship with Johnson was unlikely a consensual one since she was never manumitted.

Review Quotes

"The Vice President's Black Wife proves that there are a lot of things about history left to learn. . . . In many ways, as [Myers] shows, women both white and enslaved often had much more power than history books would like us to believe and that, surprisingly, extended to Julia Chinn. It's truly eye-opening."--Philadelphia Tribune

"A very fascinating biography of a forgotten historical figure. . . . The Vice President's Black Wife plucks Julia out of obscurity and into history books! Hopefully, there will be more studies on Julia Chinn in the future!"--History From a Woman's Perspective

"Groundbreaking. . . . A deeply researched and elegantly written biography."--Ms. magazine

"Illuminating. . . . Myers painstakingly pieces together this long-hidden history. The result is a revealing exploration of the intersection of race, gender, power, and property in eighteenth-century America."--Publishers Weekly

"Myers carefully stitches together the story of Julia Ann Chinn, the enslaved wife of Richard Mentor Johnson, Martin Van Buren's vice president, recounting her life on his estate and the public controversy over their relationship."--New York Times Book Review

"Myers's deft analysis of her sources and obvious passion for excavating well-buried family histories provide a much-needed account of enslaved women's experiences in the nineteenth century. It is another laudable contribution in the ongoing work of giving a voice to silenced histories. . . . An important scholarly contribution."--Journal of Southern History

"The first attempt to tell the full story of Julia Chinn's life. . . . Myers has skillfully 'woven together the fabric of Julia's life from the threads that have been left to us to try and capture the essence of her existence' (p. 8)."--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

"The [fascinating] story of a remarkable woman who experienced freedom and slavery simultaneously. . . . Myers has conducted arduous research, and she ably introduces a little-known yet important figure in American history . . . . A valuable addition to antebellum history."--Kirkus Reviews

"This book not only focuses on Chinn, but it also presents a complex, contested view of the social and moral ecology of the antebellum South and the nation. Myers extends that story to discuss current racial issues."--Library Journal

"With The Vice President's Black Wife, Myers finds lessons about America's centuries long perception of race, gender, and politics in a very surprising story."--National Book Review

About the Author

Amrita Chakrabarti Myers is the Ruth N. Halls Professor of History and Gender Studies at Indiana University Bloomington. She is the author of Forging Freedom: Black Women and the Pursuit of Liberty in Antebellum Charleston.