Before They Called Her a Welfare Queen

To commemorate Virginia’s Emancipation Day (April 3rd, 1865), the Black History Museum of Virginia hosted Dr. Arlisha R. Norwood, Associate Professor of History at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, as she presented Times Too Hard: Single African American Women in Post–Civil War Virginia.

The program took us all the way back to the earliest accusations of the “Welfare Queen,” unpacking stereotypes placed on freed single Black women, and the ways they navigated divorce in situations like adultery and abuse—especially in the post–Freedmen’s Bureau era (a federal agency established to help newly freed slaves and poor whites in the South following the devastation of the Civil War. Dr. Norwood’s research goes deep, stretching back to the 1860s and the war itself, revealing the many hurdles these women faced just to afford living—and often to reject societal norms altogether.

Some discussions centered on widowed Black women fighting for pensions to care for themselves and their children—including Harriet Tubman, whose struggle for a pension as both a widow and a soldier illustrates the systemic doubt and mistreatment faced even by the most notable Black women.

Other cases revealed instances where Black women were being divorced, like Betty King, who was named in her husband Edmund King’s 1878 petition claiming “she has a bad temper and abandoned the marriage to live with her father.” Ms. King is just one example of Black women pushing back against 19th- and 20th-century expectations that marriage was supposed to increase one’s socioeconomic status or reflect their moral standing. Dr. Norwood pointed out the stark contrast found in some records—where Black women openly admitted to walking away from their marriages simply because they were unhappy.

In another example from 1886, a woman named Sally was accused of adultery and “going out too much” by her husband. This shows the ongoing conflict between societal expectations and the autonomy Black women were fighting for—despite scholarly claims that Black women were eager to marry during this time.

Marital status also played a major role in how Black women were criminalized. Take the case of Pocahontas “Pokey” Barnes, who was accused of murdering a white woman. Her story caught the attention of Richmond’s own John Mitchell Jr., editor of the Richmond Planet. Pokey had been widowed and lived openly with a man, but her decision not to remarry was met with public disdain and was used against her in court. Mitchell used the power of the press to reshape her public image, and the perception of other unmarried Black women—by offering community-backed advocacy that led to her eventual acquittal.

During the Q&A portion of the program, Dr. Norwood spoke about both the external and internal criticisms of single Black women. External systems like the Freedmen’s and Pensions Bureaus used language like “she refused to work” and “she’s taking advantage of the system.” Internally, figures like W.E.B. Du Bois also criticized single Black women’s morality. After visiting Farmville, Virginia in 1890, Du Bois wrote about “a large population of women who have no morals and are not married.”

Dr. Norwood said she found it especially interesting that even back then, Black men in the community felt these women should at least be married—and by not doing so, were “pulling down the rest of the population.” And while people like John Mitchell helped protect single Black women publicly, questions still remain about how they were viewed within their own communities.

One audience question centered on whether post–Civil War white women faced the same resistance around pensions, labor, and divorce. Dr. Norwood explained that while the systems were difficult for everyone, racialized ideas about dependency were clear in the way Black women were described in Bureau records. White agents often wrote that Black women “refused to work” or didn’t understand why they couldn’t stay home to care for their children.

Her research also found that some Black women did sue their children’s white fathers for child support—even in Virginia.

Another topic was marriage legality. Since many couples were married during slavery, their unions weren’t always legally recognized. Virginia’s 1866 “cohabitation act” began to legitimize those partnerships, which complicated remarriage and inheritance. Women sought divorce not just for abuse, but to remarry, separate assets, or protect inheritances.

In one case, Dr. Norwood spoke about Julia Custis of Norfolk, a widow whose husband was claimed by multiple women. All of them believed they were entitled to his pension—some due to caregiving, emotional ties, or shared labor. Even when claims were legitimate, women were sometimes jailed for fraud.

If you’re interested in learning more, grab a copy of Southern Black Women and Their Struggle for Freedom During the Civil War and Reconstruction, edited by Karen Cook Bell—available at the American Civil War Museum in Richmond.