Every year on February we focus on Black History Month. This month is meant to acknowledge the African-Americans who changed our country for the best. They changed our country in various of ways such as standing up to segregation or doing something they were passionate for, despite the racism that took place during the 1800's to 1900's. I took the initiative to challenge myself by researching about someone I wasn't too familiar with.
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper or also known as Frances Harper for short was a strong supporting activist for the prohibition and the woman's suffrage. She was born on September 24th, 1825 in Baltimore, Maryland. During her childhood she faced many challenges. One of those challenges was losing her mother at an early age. She also encountered a lot of racism with the white citizens of Baltimore. Losing her mother was very hard for Frances, but she coped and was raised by her aunt. Due to her skin color she attended a small school for African Americans ran by her Uncle, Reverend William Watkins. In school she learned about history, writing and reading. This is where Frances discovered her true passion and talent for poetry, reading, writing and being well spoken.
As an adult Frances continued writing poetry because that's what kept her sane and happy. She eventually had a journal full of poetry that was very influential and impacting. In 1845 she published her first journal collection of poetry titled Forest Leaves. All of her journal entries discussed racism and right for woman. Five years later she moved to Ohio where she became a teacher to many African-American women. She taught at the Union Seminary and at the Union she taught women to sew, read, write and speak up. Soon it became hard to teacher because the fugitive slave law passed. This made it easy for the white citizens to own and sell black slaves. From here on out she had to be careful in how she presented herself in society since she could be kidnapped and be turned into a slave.
Through out the 1850's to the late 1900's Harper did so much to cause an impact for herself and other African-American woman. Harper published many famous poetry pieces and articles that became really impactful and inspirational for many. The articles and poetry mainly consisted about racism, freedom and support of the prohibition. During this time Harper married Fenton Harper who was able to start a family with her and she soon became inactive in being a public figure. She gave birth to her first child Mary in 1862. Two years later Harper resumed her life works and returned to her hometown after her husband passed away. For the rest of the late 1800's Harper started organizations for woman where she would help them improve their lives by teaching them basic skills and their rights as U.S Citizens. Harpers writing was very influential for many because a lot of people thought that the only way to get their words across was by speech, but she proved that even written work had powerful meanings. Unfortunately, in 1911 Harper died of heart failure at her Organization in Philadelphia.
I hope you enjoyed reading this and learning about Frances Harper. Remember that just because February is almost over, that doesn't mean that you should stop remembering about influential African Americans. Treat every month like black history month. Our country has a changed a long way with the years passing by, but we still encounter racism. It can all change by educating and showing our next generations the impact racism had on many influential African Americans or by showing racist people how it isn't right and what impacts it has on people. Have a nice day!
Links to Frances Harper poetry. (At your own-risk Whyville is not responsible for anything outside of Whyville):
http://www.umbc.edu/che/tahlessons/pdf/Frances_Ellen_Watkins_Harper_19th_Century_African-American_Writer_and_Reformer_RS_10.pdf
