Celia, A Slave

Melton A. McLaurin

Mar 2022 · Tantor Media Inc · Anlatan: Mia Ellis

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Celia was only fourteen years old when she was acquired by John Newsom, an aging widower and one of the most prosperous and respected citizens of Callaway County, Missouri. The pattern of sexual abuse that would mark their entire relationship began almost immediately. After purchasing Celia in a neighboring county, Newsom raped her on the journey back to his farm. He then established her in a small cabin near his house and visited her regularly. Over the next five years, Celia bore Newsom two children; meanwhile, she became involved with a slave named George and resolved at his insistence to end the relationship with her master. When Newsom refused, Celia one night struck him fatally with a club and disposed of his body in her fireplace. Her act quickly discovered, Celia was brought to trial. She received a surprisingly vigorous defense from her court-appointed attorneys. Nevertheless, the court upheld the tenets of a white social order that wielded almost total control over the lives of slaves. Celia was found guilty and hanged. Melton A. McLaurin uses Celia's story to reveal the tensions that strained the fabric of antebellum southern society. Celia's case demonstrates how one master's abuse of power over a single slave forced whites to make moral decisions about the nature of slavery.

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Melton A. McLaurin is professor emeritus in the Department of History at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. He is the author or coauthor of nine books and numerous articles on various aspects of the history of the American South and race relations.

Mia Ellis is a member of the Resident Acting Company at Trinity Repertory Company. Based in Providence and New York, she is also a teaching artist and writer. Some of her film and television credits include Elementary, Person of Interest, and Louder Than Words. Mia is a graduate of the Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Acting Program.