After being raised in a household of abolitionists in the pre-Civil War era, Charlotte Forten Grimké learned at a young age to use her coveted education to make a difference. Before she even finished her schooling, she used her “power of the pen” to write anti-slavery poems.
Grimké was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1837 to a wealthy and prominent free African- American family consisting of dedicated abolitionists. They played a major role in the Underground Railroad. But since Philadelphia schools were segregated at the time, Grimké’s father didn’t want her to attend public schools, so a private tutor educated her.
Poet and Abolitionist
While a young woman in Massachusetts, Grimké joined the Salem Female Anti-Slavery Society. Around that same time, she started a diary of her experiences (called the “Journal”), which would be published decades after her death. “I will spare no effort to prepare myself well for the responsible duties of a teacher, and to live for the good I can do my oppressed and suffering fellow creatures,” Grimké wrote on Oct. 23, 1854.Before she graduated college, Grimké started teaching at the all-white Epes Grammar School. While a teacher, she wrote to aid in the anti-slavery fight, publishing her pro-abolitionist poems in The Liberator and Anglo African magazines.
After moving back to Philadelphia for two years due to health issues, Grimké returned to Massachusetts in 1859, where she once again became a teacher. She continued to write poems and eventually befriended poet John Greenleaf Whittier, who became her mentor.
May those whose holy task it is, To guide impulsive youth, Fail not to cherish in their souls A reverence for truth; For teachings which the lips impart Must have their source within the heart.
Once the Civil War broke out in 1861, Grimké had a deep urge to do something to help the war effort. After receiving a recommendation from Whittier, Grimké decided to take a job in South Carolina to teach freed slaves.
In 1861, the Battle of Port Royal on the Sea Islands between Savannah and Charleston left thousands of acres of cotton in the hands of the Union, along with 10,000 freed slaves. Grimké saw the opportunity to give freed slaves the ultimate gift by teaching them to read and write, which she believed would empower them to remain free.
She kept a journal of her experiences on the islands and later wrote two essays called “Life on the Sea Islands,” which were published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1864. However, Grimké only stayed on the islands for two years before she again fell ill and moved back with her family in Pennsylvania.
In 1872, Grimké then moved to Washington, where she taught at the Preparatory High School for Negro Youth. In 1878, she gave up teaching after marrying Rev. Francis Grimké, who was also a strong figure in the civil rights movement.
Grimké started a women’s missionary group while her husband served as the pastor of the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church in Washington. While her husband was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Grimké helped start up the National Association of Colored Women in 1896.
After she retired as an educator, Grimké continued to write poetry and advocate for civil rights until her death in 1914.
