"Charlotte belonged to the prominent member of the Forten-Purvis family. Her family were activists for Black causes and Charlotte proved to be just as influential an activist and leader of civil rights. Her parents were Robert Bridges and Mary Woods Forten. Her father and his brother in law, Robert Purvis were key members of the Philadelphia Vigilant Committee, an antislavery, slave assistance network. Her mother worked in the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. Charlotte's grandfather was James Forten, Sr., a successful abolitionist and sailmaker in Philadelphia. Charlotte married Francis J. Grimke when she was 41, on December 19, 1878. Francis was a Presbyterian minister who graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and Princeton Theological Seminary. They had one daughter, Theodora Cornelia in June of 1880 who died as an infant."1
[...] The loss of her child did not stop her as “after many years as an invalid, she died in 1914, having been a voice for equality throughout her life.”3 Forten discovered from friends that Salem had integrated schools of sound reputation. It was also the location of a fine normal school which her father wanted her eventually to attend so that she could prepare for a teaching career. This profession, he believed, would give Charlotte some practical skill with which to aid her race, for there were few well-trained teachers available to the black community. [...]
[...] Let me do that faithfully and well.”10 This is yet another quote that highlights her dedication to teaching and black causes. Resources 1. Women in History. Charlotte Forten Grimke biography. Lakewood Public Library Web site Available at: http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/grim-cha.htm. Accessed December Forten Stevenson B. The Journals of Charlotte Forten Grimké. New York:Oxford University Press; Only A Teacher Schoolhouse Pioneers. Charlotte Forten Web site Available at: http://www.pbs.org/onlyateacher/charlotte.html. Accessed December Sunshine for Women. Sarah Grimke and Angelina Grimke Weld. Sunshine for Women Web site Available at: [...]
[...] So both Francis and Charlotte had the desire to improve the conditions of African-Americans in them and they had it honestly. December Charlotte married Francis James Grimké, a Presbyterian minister with whom she had a child. Her daughter Theodora Cornelia died in infancy . After recovering from tuberculosis, Grimké asked her friend, the famous poet John Greenleaf Whittier, to write her a recommendation so that she could teach for the Port Royal Experiment, a school set up to educate former slaves. [...]
[...] And harder and sterner become the realities of life.” Charlotte thought her financial problems were solved when, in June 1856, she accepted an offer to teach in the Epes Grammar School in Salem for an annual salary of $200. She was the first black to be offered such a position in the city and so was, momentarily, a bit proud of herself. Yet by late 1856, her health had begun to fail and eventually forced her to take a leave of absence from her teaching position. [...]
[...] This was a woman who grew up in a home with lots of intellectual stimulation and a charge from her grandfather to be the kind of person who could create bridges for black people to get an education, get out of slavery and create a better life for themselves. “Charlotte's father and other politically active family members must have had a tremendous impact on her. She grew up in a home where abolition and equal rights for blacks were key issues to discuss and act upon. [...]
APA Style reference
For your bibliographyOnline reading
with our online readerContent validated
by our reading committee
