Hidden Figures: Charlotte Forten Grimké (Patreon)

Hidden Figures: Charlotte Forten Grimké

'Charlotte Forten Grimké, née Charlotte Louise Bridges Forten, (born August 17, 1837, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.—died July 23, 1914, Washington, D.C.), American abolitionist and educator best known for the five volumes of diaries she wrote in 1854–64 and 1885–92. They were published posthumously. Forten was born into a prominent free black family in Philadelphia. Her father ran a successful sail-making business. Many members of her family were active in the abolitionist movement. Early in life, Forten was educated by tutors at home. A fervent abolitionist, Forten intently followed news of the Civil War. In 1861, when Union forces gained control of the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina, the slave owners there abandoned their plantations and 10,000 slaves. Faced with that situation, the federal government launched an experimental program to educate the former slaves and sought volunteers to serve as teachers. In 1862 Forten traveled to St. Helena Island, where she worked as a teacher for two years. She wrote of her experiences there, and in 1864 her two-part essay “Life on the Sea Islands” was published in the May and June issues of Atlantic Monthly. While there she was thrilled to meet the renowned Harriet Tubman. After returning to New England, Forten served as secretary of the Boston branch of the Freedmen’s Union Commission, recruiting and training teachers of freed slaves. Over the next few years, she also worked as a teacher at an all-black school and as a clerk in the U.S. Treasury Department in Washington, D.C. In 1878, at age 41, Forten married the 28-year-old Francis (Frank) James Grimké, the son of plantation owner Henry Grimké and Nancy Weston, who worked on his plantation. The Grimkés were a prominent family. Forten Grimké’s brother-in-law Archibald became president of the Washington, D.C., branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Frank’s aunts, Sarah and Angelina Grimké, were also influential in the abolitionist movement. Throughout her married life, Forten Grimké continued to write poetry and essays. She also maintained her commitment to issues of social justice, becoming actively involved with the National Association of Colored Women and the cause of woman suffrage. The Journals of Charlotte Forten Grimké were published in one volume in 1988. Those eloquent and insightful diaries offer a unique perspective on the period of transition after the end of slavery in America.' ~ words by Jennifer Wallach for The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica #CharlotteFortenGrimké #HiddenFigures ****************** Merchandise! MAKE SURE U GETTA SHIRT!! https://www.teepublic.com/user/sssseren Follow me on social media! Instagram: @sensei_aishitemasu Personal Tumblr: http://sensei-aishitemasu.tumblr.com Tumblr for my work: https://sssseren.tumblr.com Snapchat: sssseren GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/tc5wh7q Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/seren_sensei ****************** Did you know I wrote a book? ☺️ 'So, About That... A Year of Contemporary Essays on Race and Pop Culture' Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/About-That-Contemporary-Essays-Culture-ebook/dp/B013V0CHK6 Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013V0CHK6 Digital download (e-book): https://gumroad.com/l/IkUa ****************** Links: 'Life on the Sea Islands:' https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1864/05/life-on-the-sea-islands/308758/ Charlotte Forten Biography: https://www.biography.com/people/charlotte-forten-11384 Grimké, Charlotte Forten (1837-1914): https://blackpast.org/aah/grimke-charlotte-forten-1837-1914 Charlotte Forten Grimké: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charlotte-Forten-Grimke Charlotte Forten Grimké (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Forten_Grimké Charlotte Forten Grimke House (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Forten_Grimké_House Alma Thomas House (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alma_Thomas_House Port Royal Experiment (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Royal_Experiment Saint Helena Island -South Carolina (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Helena_Island_(South_Carolina) Seaside Plantation (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seaside_Plantation