Louise Burtis & Matilda Hilbring: Biracial Women in Early Quad Cities History Online
The Davenport Public Library is pleased to host the virtual presentation “Louise Burtis & Matilda Hilbring: Biracial Women in Early Quad Cities History” presented by Jane Simonsen, Professor of History and Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies at Augustana College on Tuesday, March 2nd at 6:30 pm on Zoom.
This talk will explore the complicated landscape of race, property, and power in the antebellum Quad Cities by looking at the lives of two biracial women, Louise Burtis and Matilda Hilbring. Burtis, whose mother was Meskwaki, attempted to secure a place for herself in 1830-50s Iowa through her land claims and a series of strategic marriages. Hilbring was a Black woman, possibly born into indentured servitude, who lived in the household of Rock Island mayor Bailey Davenport and married a white man after giving birth to Davenport’s son. Their lives expose both the limited choices and power available to women of color in different circumstances as well as their efforts to survive and provide in a white man’s world.
- Date:
- Tuesday, March 2, 2021
- Time:
- 6:30pm - 8:00pm
- Branch:
- Virtual
- Online:
- This is an online event. Event URL will be sent via registration email.
- Audience:
- Adults
- Categories:
- Educational Local History
Jane Simonsen is a Professor of History and Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies at Augustana College.
Photo: Davenport in 1844, by John Casper Wild, photo courtesy Putnam Museum.