Elizabeth Eubanks, PhD

Hello! I am a historian of gender and charity in colonial and early America.  My research explores the relationship between benevolence and patriarchy in the port city of Charleston, South Carolina in the eighteenth century.

 

Charleston was simultaneously one of the richest and poorest cities in the Atlantic World. I examine how 

colonial men and women used the system of poor relief to their advantage. The poor gained physical provisions by successfully applying for assistance while wealthy 

gentlemen gained power in the community through the 

administration of benevolence societies. Charity and patriarchy were linked in colonial America.

 

University of Tennessee Lecturer Page