Kiddy, Elizabeth W. 1957–

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Kiddy, Elizabeth W. 1957–

PERSONAL:

Born 1957.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Albright College, 1800 N. 13th St., Reading, PA 19612. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Professor and writer. Albright College, Reading, PA, currently assistant professor of history and director of Latin American and Caribbean studies.

WRITINGS:

Blacks of the Rosary: Memory and History in Minas Gerais, Brazil, Pennsylvania State University Press (University Park, PA), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS:

Elizabeth W. Kiddy is an assistant professor of history and director of Latin American and Caribbean studies at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania. Her debut book, Blacks of the Rosary: Memory and History in Minas Gerais, Brazil, was published in 2005. The book takes an in-depth look at the history of the brotherhoods of Our Lady of the Rosary and the experiences of those who participated in this religious tradition in Minas Gerais from the early colonial time of the seventeenth century into the late twentieth century. The author presents the brotherhoods as communities where Afro-Brazilians constructed a collective identity and a sense of belonging grounded in a history of being black in Brazil.

The book is chronologically arranged in three parts. The first section of the book, consisting of chapters one and two, looks at the origins of the brotherhoods in Europe and Africa. The first chapter examines the history of the brotherhoods and the devotion to the Virgin Mary in Europe and Portugal, while the second chapter describes the experiences of the Africans as they formed brotherhoods in Brazil. The second part of the book, which is comprised of chapters three through five, traces the brotherhoods of the rosary from the 1690s to the end of the Brazilian empire in 1889, looking at how national and regional economic, political, and demographic shifts affected the brotherhoods in Minas Gerais. Canadian Journal of History's Angela Vergara considered this the "the most interesting and well-researched section of the work."

The third part of the book, made up of chapters six and seven, examines the brotherhood following the abolition of slavery and the end of the empire into the 1990s. "In this final section, Kiddy highlights the Congados [costumed groups that accompany royalty in processions] and the Reinados (coronation of kings and queens)…. She argues that the Congados continue to play a central role in the annual festivals by keeping alive the apparition narrative of Our Lady of the Rosary and other shared memories of the African past. The interviews of local leaders and participants in the festivals emphasise the devotional nature of the festivals," observed Nancy Priscilla Naro in her review of the book for Journal of Latin American Studies. "This section is less rich in details than the previous one," remarked Vergara, "and it reads more as a general historical overview of what happened with and within the brotherhoods during the twentieth century." She felt, however, that "overall, this is an engaging and well-researched book…. By incorporating a wide range of sources, such as the brotherhoods' documents, oral interviews, and personal observations, Kiddy provides a vivid image of the brotherhoods and the devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Historical Review, October 1, 2006, Carole Myscofski, review of Blacks of the Rosary: Memory and History in Minas Gerais, Brazil, p. 1234.

Americas: A Quarterly Review of Inter-American Cultural History, January 1, 2007, Alida C. Metcalf, review of Blacks of the Rosary, p. 499.

Canadian Journal of History, March 22, 2007, Angela Vergara, review of Blacks of the Rosary.

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, February 1, 2006, J. Rosenthal, review of Blacks of the Rosary, p. 1068.

Hispanic American Historical Review, November 1, 2006, Sandra Lauderdale Graham, review of Blacks of the Rosary, p. 832.

Journal of Latin American Studies, August 1, 2006, Nancy Priscilla Naro, review of Blacks of the Rosary, p. 641.