Harper, Frances Ellen Watkins, 1825-1911

Frances Harper was born September 24, 1825 in Baltimore, Maryland to free parents. Her writing career began in 1839 for anti-slavery publications. She published two books of poetry (1845, 1854). In 1859, Harper published the short story "The Two Offers" in Anglo-African Magazine, making her the first Black woman to publish a short story. She also wrote 3 serialized novels for magazines in 1868-1888, and another novel in 1892.

Starting in 1850, Harper moved to Ohio and began work as the first female teacher at Union Seminary. She joined the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1853. Harper was a strong supporter of abolitionism, prohibition, suffrage; in 1858, she refused to give up her seat or ride in the "colored" section of a segregated trolley car in Philadelphia. During the eleventh National Women's Rights Convention in New York City in 1866 Harper gave speech demanding equal rights for all, including Black women. Harper, along with Mary Church Terrell, founded the National Association of Colored Women in 1894; Harper was elected vice president in 1897. She died February 22, 1911 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.