“Through weary, wasting years men have destroyed, dashed in pieces, and…” — Frances E. W. Harper

“Through weary, wasting years men have destroyed, dashed in pieces, and overthrown, but today we stand on the threshold of woman's era, and woman's work is grandly constructive.”

A forceful contrast between destructive history and women's potential for constructive change. · Speech, Woman's Political Future, 1893

Frances E. W. Harper

About Frances E. W. Harper

24 September 1825–22 February 1911

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…

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