Technical Communication Quarterly Jul 2022 OA PDF

Black Women Imagining and Realizing Liberated Futures

Jessica Edwards University of Delaware ; Josie Walwema

Abstract

In the summer of 1881, a group of Black women formed The Washing Society of Atlanta by deploying extraorganizational technical communication to collectively bargain for better working conditions and wages. In this article, we illuminate the ways that Black women operated in a world dominated by an established order of racial hierarchy. We argue that the Washerwomen manifested a particular form of Black technical communication rooted in agency and advocacy.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
2022-07-03
DOI
10.1080/10572252.2022.2069289
CompPile
Open Access
OA PDF Bronze
Topics
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation context

Cited by in this index (6)

  1. Willers et al. (2026)
    Developing an Accessibility Mindset: Examining How Organizational Policies and …
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  2. Chen (2024)
    The Post-Digital Life of Transnational Activists: Develop a Tactical Technologi…
    Communication Design Quarterly
  3. Chen (2024)
    The Post-Digital Life of Transnational Activists: Develop a Tactical Technologi…
    Communication Design Quarterly
  4. Hallenbeck (2024)
    Decentering the Patent: Opportunities to Reframe American Innovation Rhetorics
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  5. Carthell (2024)
    An Analysis of Bias in Language Content in Books Used in Technical and Professi…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Show all 6 →
  1. Walwema et al. (2024)
    The Ethics of Inclusion, Exclusion, and Protection inThe Green Book
    Technical Communication Quarterly

References (79) · 10 in this index

  1. APWU. (2009, Dec 31). Black women advance labor’s cause in an unlikely setting: 1881 Atlanta. https://apwu.or…
  2. The Atlanta Constitution. (1881a: 29 July).The Wet Clothes Atlanta, GA
  3. The Atlanta Constitution. (1881b: 16 August). Resolution Atlanta GA
  4. Atlanta’s washerwomen strike: AFL-CIO. AFL. (n.d.). https://aflcio.org/about/history/labor-history-events/atl…
  5. 10.18574/nyu/9780814762226.003.0007
     ↗
Show all 79 →
  1. Bair B. (2000)
    To make our world anew
  2. 10.1177/1086296X17733092
     ↗
  3. 10.4324/9781410617385
     ↗
  4. bhistorian (2021, Jul 1). The atlanta constitution atlanta, Georgia 10 Aug 1881, Wed [Newspaper Clipping]. ht…
  5. Britt E. C (2001)
    Conceiving normalcy: Rhetoric, law, and the double binds of infertility
  6. 10.18574/nyu/9781479820375.001.0001
     ↗
  7. 10.1080/1479142042000332134
     ↗
  8. Carson, A. (2017). Owning my masters: The rhetorics of rhymes & revolutions (Doctoral dissertation). Clemson …
  9. Chase S. E (2005)
    The sage handbook of qualitative research
  10. Clandinin D. J. (2000)
    Narrative inquiry: Experience and story in qualitative research
  11. 10.1177/0022487106296218
     ↗
  12. 10.1086/494543
     ↗
  13. Colton et al. (2017)
    From NoobGuides to #OpKKK: Ethics of Anonymous’ Tactical Technical Communication
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  14. 10.3102/0013189X019005002
     ↗
  15. 10.1007/s10887-014-9102-z
     ↗
  16. Cooper J (1982)
    A Voice from the South: By a Black Woman from the South. University of North Carolina at …
  17. Cox R. J (2000)
    Closing an era: Historical perspectives on modern archives and records management
     ↗
  18. The Daily Constitution. (1881: 21 July). The washerwoman’s strike atlanta, GA
  19. The Daily Constitution (1876)
    The washerwomen’s strike.the news and observer. THE WASHING AMAZONS: They grow firm and p…
  20. de Certeau M (1984)
    The practice of everyday life
  21. Faust D. G (2004)
    Mothers of invention: women of the slaveholding south in the american civil war
  22. Flower L (2008)
    Community literacy and the rhetoric of public engagement
  23. Gates H. L (2019)
    Stony the road: Reconstruction, white supremacy, and the rise of Jim Crow
  24. 10.1353/par.2004.0020
     ↗
  25. Guy-Sheftall B (1995)
    Words of fire: An anthology of African-American feminist thought
  26. Harding S (1992)
    The Centennial Review
  27. Hart-Davidson W (2013)
    Solving problems in technical communication
  28. 10.17265/2159-5313/2016.09.003
     ↗
  29. 10.1080/00236569300890131
     ↗
  30. Hunter T. W (1997)
    To ‘joy my freedom: southern black women’s lives and labors after the civil war
  31. 10.1093/maghis/13.4.52
     ↗
  32. Johnson-Eilola (1996)
    Relocating the Value of Work: Technical Communication in a Post-Industrial Age
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  33. Johnson-Sheehan R (2005)
    Technical communication today
  34. Jones J (1985)
    Labor of love, labor of sorrow: Black women, work, and the family from slavery to the present
  35. Jones (2016)
    The Technical Communicator as Advocate: Integrating a Social Justice Approach i…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  36. Jones (2017)
    Rhetorical Narratives of Black Entrepreneurs: The Business of Race, Agency, and…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  37. 10.7330/9781607327585.c010
     ↗
  38. 10.2307/2079698
     ↗
  39. Kelley R. D. G. (2000)
    To make our world anew: A history of African Americans
  40. Khdairi I. M (2020)
    Arab World English Journal
  41. Kimball (2006)
    Cars, Culture, and Tactical Technical Communication
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  42. Kimball (2017)
    Tactical Technical Communication
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  43. Koerber (2006)
    Rhetorical Agency, Resistance, and the Disciplinary Rhetorics of Breastfeeding
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  44. 10.1021/ed079p1172
     ↗
  45. Link W. A (2013)
    Atlanta, cradle of the new south: Race and remembering in the civil war’s aftermath
  46. Malone E (2011)
    Technical Communication
  47. Mckoy, T. (2019). Y’all call it technical and professional communication, we call it #ForTheCulture: The use …
  48. Meraji, S. M. & Demby, G. (Hosts). (2020, September 2).Balls and strikes (episode 33)[Audio podcast]. Retriev…
  49. 10.1080/00335638409383686
     ↗
  50. Miller (2014)
    Mapping the Methods of Composition/Rhetoric Dissertations: A “Landscape Plotted…
    College Composition and Communication
  51. Mitchell, D. (2018, January 24). The people’s grocery lynching, Memphis, Tennessee.JSTOR Daily.https://daily.…
  52. Muhammad G (2020)
    Cultivating genius: An equity framework for culturally and historically responsive literacy
  53. Muhammad E. G. (2016)
    10.58680/ee201628670
    English Education  ↗
  54. Peters, Jon, Gregory Poirier, John Singleton, Jon Voight, Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle, Bruce McGill, et al. (199…
  55. Primary Sources The Atlanta Constitution. August 3 1881.Letter to Mr. james english atlanta gathe atlanta con…
  56. Rainey K. T. (2005)
    Technical Communication
  57. REEVES (1996)
    Language, Rhetoric, and AIDS: The Attitudes and Strategies of Key AIDS Medical …
    Written Communication
  58. 10.4324/9780203166550
     ↗
  59. 10.2307/j.ctvr0qs8p
     ↗
  60. Social History for Every Classroom. (2021). African-American laundry women go on strike in Atlanta. https://s…
  61. Spinuzzi C (2004)
    Writing selves/writing societies: research from activity perspectives
  62. St. Julien, J. (2020, Feb 21).The Atlanta Washerwomen strike of 1881: A lesson in unity and persistence.The N…
  63. The Washington Post, 1877–1922. (1880: 29 July). Strike of washerwomen. Washington, D.C. [Washington, D.C].
  64. Tindall G. B. (2012)
    America: A narrative history
  65. Truth S (1864)
    Black in America
  66. Warren, A. (2020). History of the Springfield 1908 Race Riot. Springfield Visitors Center. https://visitsprin…
  67. Washington B (1895)
    Black in America
  68. Waters M (2017)
    Williams maxine waters inspires a new anthem: ‘Reclaiming my time
  69. Weber B (2018)
    The Progressive Magazine
  70. Williams M. F (2010)
    From Black codes to recodification: Removing the veil from regulatory writing
  71. Williams (2012)
    Reimagining NASA: A Cultural and Visual Analysis of the U.S. Space Program
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  72. Williams, V. (2017). Maxine Waters inspires a new anthem: ‘Reclaiming my time. https://www.washingtonpost.com…
  73. Williams M. F. (2014)
    Communicating Race, Ethnicity, and Identity in Technical Communication
  74. 10.2307/2713969
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 5 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related articles

  1. Pedagogy Oct 2025
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory cultural rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy advanced composition creative writing writing across the curriculum graduate education two-year college service learning teacher development technical communication professional writing labor and working conditions archival research multimodality artificial intelligence literacy studies race and writing gender and writing disability studies literary studies editorial matter
  2. Pedagogy Apr 2025
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism african american rhetorics cultural rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy basic writing graduate education two-year college teacher development writing centers technical communication professional writing labor and working conditions digital rhetoric multimodality social media literacy studies race and writing gender and writing community literacy literary studies editorial matter
  3. Communication Design Quarterly Sep 2024
    Voices from The Void: Teaching User Experience as Racial Storytelling in TPC ↗
    Jerrice Renita Donelson
    writing pedagogy teacher development technical communication professional writing labor and working conditions race and writing
  4. Pedagogy Apr 2023
    Contributors ↗
    rhetorical criticism first-year composition writing pedagogy creative writing graduate education two-year college service learning teacher development writing centers technical communication professional writing labor and working conditions digital rhetoric multimodality race and writing gender and writing literary studies editorial matter
  5. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2026
    “Is This Ethical?” New Data on the Ethical Principles and Practices of Document Design ↗
    Leslie Seawright; Amy Hodges; Timothy Ponce
    technical communication race and writing