Intimate Legacies: Slavery, Family, and the Radical Vision of Ernest C. Morphy

Kendric Perkins’ paper uses the life and legislative career of Ernest E.C. Morphy as a microhistorical case study to examine how multigenerational family experiences shaped Black political strategies during Reconstruction. By situating Morphy’s legislative priorities within a longer history of enslavement, emancipation, and racial violence, the paper highlights how Reconstruction-era political action emerged from deeply rooted efforts to secure legal recognition, dignity, and citizenship through law.