Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911) refuses to give up her seat in the white section of a Philadelphia horse-drawn street car, almost a century before Rosa Parks. Her action is a small incident in the busy life of an abolitionist, suffragist, poet, temperance activist, teacher, public speaker and writer.
Born free in Baltimore and raised by an aunt, Henrietta, and an active abolitionist, Rev. William J. Watkins, Sr., Frances is well-educated and publishes a book of poems at 20, beginning a popular and pioneering writing career. In 1859 she publishes the first short story by a Black woman, “The Two Authors.” In 1892, at 67, she is one of the first to put a novel, titled “Iola Leroy”, on the market.
Frances Watkins is an articulate and acclaimed supporter of abolition, prohibition and women’s rights throughout her long career. As the only African American speaker at an 1866 suffragist meeting, she says, “You white women speak of rights. I speak of wrongs.” She dies at 85, only nine years before the passage of the 19th Amendment, giving women the vote.
Eubie Blake, musical pioneer in jazz and ragtime
Eubie Blake creates a landmark in the history of Broadway musical theatre in 1921. Blake teams up with Noble Sissle to launch the first All African American Broadway production, Shuffle Along, which runs for 504 performances. President Reagan presents Eubie Blake with a national award.
