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Reading Frances Smith Foster

As early as 1979, Frances Smith Foster was writing about the potential cultural power of collaborative humanities pedagogy. In an article written long before the slew of new anthologies that took hold in classrooms in the 1990s (several of which would be coedited by Foster herself), she reported on an innovative curriculum project to bring "previously unheard voices and stories" of women writers into classrooms ("Voices" 22). Foster chronicled not only the development of a new course for her own institution, then San Diego State University, but also how that process grew through collaboration. Opening the curriculum to little-studied women's texts, teachers from a range of college and university settings developed new courses. Foster's account rings with the energy of early canon interventions. It chronicles "interdisciplinary approaches to [asking] literary questions" and to enabling students' own primary research (19). It also urges readers to tell more stories about aspirational humanities education. Here, we seek to follow that forward-looking vision while also paying tribute to Foster. In a spirit we hope she would endorse, this essay emerged from conversations linking scholarship and teaching. Legacy had invited Sarah to submit a tribute, probably because of her involvement in nominating Foster for SSAWW'S lifetime achievement award. However, building on exchanges during Rachel's doctoral exams, we realized we should coauthor this essay. The impact Rachel's reading of Foster's writing is having on an emerging scholar-teacher demonstrates the enduring reach of Foster's influence. We hope, too, that emulating Foster's model of collaboration will reaffirm principles for feminist academic work that she promotes. Writing for Legacy, Foster celebrated her multiple collaborations with Nellie McKay ("Continuities" 12). Following Foster's lead, we collaborate here. With you, our readers, we will share several of our readings of Foster's texts and of her professional practice. This story culls only a few highlights of how Foster has guided our work. We begin by revisiting Foster's contributions to an NEH-sponsored institute from early in Sarah's university career. Then, Rachel describes how her current reading of Foster's writings is supporting a young academic's development. SARAH'S FIRST COLLABORATIVE STUDY WITH FRANCES My first personal experience reading Frances Smith Foster came through a curriculum project she generously joined in the 1990s. At Kennesaw State, one of my responsibilities was leading outreach to area educators. After one NEH-funded project had demonstrated a high interest level in curricular innovation among area teachers, we sought a larger grant for a three-year partnership with the University of California and the University of Michigan. "Making American Literatures" promoted canon changes in secondary school teaching. In the first year, team leaders convened in Berkeley for a two-week institute. In succeeding years, each region ran its own institute and school-year collaborative study. Frances, then housed at nearby Emory, joined our teaching team at Kennesaw State. During a project I had previously directed, "Domesticating the Canon," our NEH program officer Janet Edwards described the crucial role scholars leading the program can play. "The most important texts to read: Janet said, "are the scholars who come to the institute" to collaborate with participants. In the "Making American Literatures" initiative, Frances embodied that assessment. She spent several days with the secondary teachers exploring Minnie's Sacrifice, Sowing and Reaping, Trial and Triumph: Three Rediscovered Novels, an edition based on recovering Frances Harper's long-lost serialized texts. Of all the primary materials studied that summer, Harper's narratives easily became the favorite. When the teachers divvied up our budget for purchasing class sets that could rotate around classrooms throughout metro Atlanta, this text won hands down. …