Ronald E. McNair Program

Lauren Bethley

Name: Lauren Bethley
School: Tougaloo College
Major: English
Mentor: Dr. Ethel Young- Minor
Expected Graduation Date: May 2007
Organizations & Honors:

• Ronald E. McNair Scholar
• TAMS (Tougaloo Ambassadors for Meritorious Scholars)
• Zach Hall Scholar
• Vice-President’s List
• Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
• Who’s Who Among College Students

E-MAIL: tougaloochick07@aol.com

COMMENTS:
I have had a very good time this summer with the Ronald E. McNair program. It has indeed been a very wonderful experience. I have learned SO much, and feel better prepared for graduate school. I have made lifelong friends: this is an experience I will never forget. Special thanks to Dr. Cole, Demetria Hereford, and Dr. Ethel Young-Minor.

ABSTRACT

Too White To Be Black, Too Black To Be White”: The Tragic Mulatta In Iola Leroy and Imitation of Life

American writers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries struggled to develop literary characters and situations that adequately reflected the particular challenges of color. Between 1845 and 1945, many writers used mulatto (or biracial) characters as a tool for examining race. The mulatto figure, therefore, emerged as a strong and permanent figure into the American literary imagination. This paper explores how two significant American Writers—Fannie Hurst and Frances E. W. Harper— used the mulatto figure to explore the problems of the color-line in American Culture.