Francis Watkins African – American Woman Born Free Became Advocate Of Women’s Right

AceHistoryDesk – Today in History – September 24 Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was born free on September 24, 1825, in Baltimore, Maryland. She was one of the most prominent and active African American women of the nineteenth century. Her life was a fusion of literature and activism with accomplishments as a lecturer, writer, poet, journalist, and advocate of emancipation, women’s rights, and social justice.

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

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Unlike most nineteenth century women, she was well educated. She attended the prestigious Watkins Academy for Negro Youth which stressed leadership and activism. Its rigorous curriculum included: the Bible, history, geography, mathematics, English, rhetoric, and oratory. After the academy, she was employed by a bookstore owner who allowed her to continue her education by independently reading in her free time.

In 1854, after a couple of teaching positions, she presented a lecture in New Bedford, Massachusetts titled, “The Elevation and Education of Our People.” This presentation was the catalyst for her to be hired as a travelling lecturer by the Maine Anti-Slavery Society. Her excellent presentations and wonderful reviews in both the Black and the White Press enhanced her reputation. Consequently, she was hired as a public lecturer by additional anti-slavery societies and other organizations.

In her anti-slavery lectures, she frequently incorporated recitations of poems that reflected the tragic circumstances of slavery from her book Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects. Published in 1854, it effectively launched her literary career and was remarkably successful with sales of over 10,000 in three years. During her life, numerous revised editions were published.

After the Civil War, she travelled throughout the South speaking on education, civil rights, temperance, domestic reform, and the need to end lynching. During this challenging time, she was well received and highly requested.

While lecturing, she continued to write. When The Two Offers was published in The Anglo-African Magazine in 1859, she became the first Black short story writer in the United States. Her range of letters, poems, and essays published in journals and newspapers established her as an internationally recognized journalist. She published several collections of poetry and was reputed to be one of the nineteenth century’s best loved Black poets. In 1892, she was one of the first African American women to publish a novel. Iola Leroy or Shadows Uplifted was a best seller and her most well-known literary achievement.

Harper’s literary productions were heavily influenced by her politics. Over her life, her numerous writings and lectures contained an impressive range of subjects that included: enslavement and abolitionism, human rights and dignity, women’s rights and equality, racial and social justice, lynching and mob violence, voting rights, moral character, racial self-help and uplift, and multiracial cooperation for common good.

In 1871, she purchased a home in Philadelphia. This was a notable accomplishment for a woman during this time.

In her activist capacity, Harper founded, supported, and held high office in several national African American and Anglo progressive organizations. In the Anglo organizations, she was often the only African American. Even though she was in conflict with the members at times, she participated in their national conventions and served on their executive boards. For example, in 1866, Harper spoke at the National Woman’s Rights Convention in New York. Her speech, We Are All Bound up Together,” urged her fellow attendees to include African American women in their fight for suffrage. She challenged all the organizations to work together based on common interests. Her philosophy was that freedom and justice were the rights of all humans and that each and all were obligated to struggle to secure these.

Additional examples of her activism include: a signer of the constitution of the Ohio State Anti-Slavery Society, superintendent of the Colored Branch of the Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Chapters of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, director of the Northern United States Temperance Union, director of the American Association of Colored Youth, founding member and vice president of the National Association of Colored Women.

Frances E. W. Harper would have been considered exemplary in any century, but to accomplish what she did in the nineteenth century was truly amazing. She died in Philadelphia in 1911, leaving a legacy of literary and activist achievement.

Learn More

• Read poetry, novels, short stories, lectures and more by Frances Harper and other historic African American women in African American Women Authors of the Civil War Era: A Resource Guide.
• Poetry of America presents recordings by awarding-winning contemporary poets reading a singular American poem of their choice. Listen to D.A. Powell read and discuss Frances E.W. Harper’s “Bury Me in a Free Land”.
• Read a brief feature on Frances Harper in the LC exhibition Shall Not be Denied: Women Fight For the Vote.
• Find newspaper articles about Frances Harper in the historic newspaper database Chronicling America. One article that includes reviews of her lectures is found in The Louisianian.[volume] (New Orleans, LA) April 09, 1871 under the heading Opinions of the Press.
• Review details of the Philadelphia house she purchased in the National Registry of Historic Places Registry Nomination Form.
• Explore a variety of historic documents that contain issues of importance to nineteenth century African Americans in African American Perspectives: Materials Selected from the Rare Book Collection.
• Browse through the online exhibition The African American Odyssey: A Quest for Full Citizenship. In particular, review the section Abolition, Anti-Slavery Movements, and the Rise of the Sectional Controversy. One item of interest, The Anti-Slavery Harp, highlights the significance and power of music. View the entire book online.
• The National Women’s History Museum presents a feature on Harper.
• Read about the discovery of Harper’s first book of poems, Forest Leaves, found in the collections of the Maryland Historical Society.

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