“Great evils stare us in the face that need to be throttled by the…” — Frances E. W. Harper | V2Melody

“Great evils stare us in the face that need to be throttled by the combined power of an upright manhood and an enlightened womanhood.”

She calls for men and women to confront social evils together. · Speech, Woman's Political Future, 1893

Frances E. W. Harper

About Frances E. W. Harper

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…

More by Frances E. W. Harper

Poems by Frances E. W. Harper

More remarks by Frances E. W. Harper

“We are all bound up together in one great bundle of humanity, and society cannot trample on the weakest and feeblest of its members without receiving the curse in its own soul.”

A powerful expression of human solidarity and the moral cost of oppression · Speech, We Are All Bound Up Together (1866)

Hope
Truth

“From schools and colleges your children may come well versed in ancient lore and modern learning, but it is for us to learn and teach, within the shadow of our own homes, the highest and best of all sciences, the science of a true life.”

She distinguishes formal education from the deeper moral education formed within the home. · Address, Enlightened Motherhood, 1892

“We need mothers who are capable of being character builders, patient, loving, strong, and true, whose homes will be uplifting power in the race.”

She connects patient and loving family life with the moral renewal of the wider community. · Address, Enlightened Motherhood, 1892