In the rich tapestry of nineteenth-century American literature and reform, few figures shine as brightly—or with as enduring a flame—as Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. Born into freedom yet forged in the fires of racial injustice, she emerged as a poet of profound moral vision, a tireless abolitionist lecturer, a pioneering novelist, and a champion of women’s rights, temperance, and Black uplift. Her life spanned the a…
“If the fifteenth century discovered America to the Old World, the nineteenth is discovering woman to herself.”
Neighbourhood:
African American Poets, American Poets, Political Poets, Social Justice Poets, Women Poets
Emotional landscape: Sorrow, Despair, Spirituality
Jessie Redmon Fauset entered the world on April 27, 1882, in the small community of Fredericksville—now known as Lawnside—in Camden County, New Jersey. She was the seventh child born to Redmon Fauset, a respected African Methodist Episcopal minister, and his wife Annie Seamon Fauset. Tragedy struck early when Annie died while Jessie was still a young girl, leaving a void that her father filled with unwavering devotio…
“Being colored in America at any rate means: Facing the ordinary difficulties of life, getting education, work, in fine getting a living plus fighting every day against some inhibition of natural liberties.”
Neighbourhood:
African American Poets, American Poets, Harlem Renaissance, Modernist Poets, Social Justice Poets, Women Poets
Emotional landscape: Sorrow, Despair, Longing
