UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Charlotte Forten: Coming of Age as a Radical Teenage Abolitionist, 1854-1856 Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9ss7c7pk Author Glasgow, Kristen Hillaire Publication Date 2019 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Charlotte Forten: Coming of Age as a Radical Teenage Abolitionist, 1854-1856 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Kristen Hillaire Glasgow 2019 © Copyright by Kristen Hillaire Glasgow 2019 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Charlotte Forten: Coming of Age as a Radical Teenage Abolitionist, 1854-1856 by Kristen Hillaire Glasgow Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Los Angeles, 2019 Professor Brenda Stevenson, Chair In 1854, Charlotte Forten, a free teenager of color from Philadelphia, was sent by her family to Salem, Massachusetts. She was fifteen years old. Charlotte was relocated to obtain an education worthy of the teenager’s socio-elite background. The 1850 Fugitive Slave Law had a tremendous impact on her family in the City of Brotherly Love. Even though they were well-known and affluent citizens and abolitionists, the law’s passage took a heavy toll on all people of color in the North including rising racial tensions, mob attacks, and the acute possibility of kidnap. Charlotte Forten: Coming of Age as a Radical Teenage Abolitionist is an intellectual biography that spans her teenage years from 1854-1856. Scholarship has maintained that Charlotte was sent to Salem solely as a result of few educational opportunities in Philadelphia. Reexamining the diary she kept as a teenager in Salem reveals that there was more to the story. Her family’s extensive ties to the Underground Railroad, anti-slavery endeavors, and lack of male guardianship for her in Philadelphia also factored in to the ii family’s decision to send her to Salem. It was not just the pursuit of a better education, but also for personal protection. Once in Salem, Charlotte lived with famous abolitionist Charles Lenox Remond and his new wife, Amy Matilda Remond. Both were actively involved in New England anti-slavery and were aligned with the ideology of William Lloyd Garrison’s fiery brand of abolition. Charlotte began her education as a student, becoming the first to integrate the Higginson Grammar School, as well as having started her training as a Garrisonian abolitionist. She began keeping a diary at the exact moment that Boston was bearing witness to the capture, trial, and conviction of former fugitives because of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law. This planted the seed in the teenager, and she grew to become a radical abolitionist in Salem, all the while documenting in real time what she witnessed and experienced. There do not appear to be any other surviving documents by a free teenager of color during the antebellum period who extensively recorded the national politics and the impending crisis over slavery. Charlotte declared in her diary, “I crave anti-slavery food continually!” and when she was not pursuing a higher education, she dedicated the majority of her time to anti-slavery causes, events, fairs, meetings, lectures, and sermons. iii The dissertation of Kristen Hillaire Glasgow is approved. Brenda Stevenson, Committee Chair Stephen A Aron William H Worger Richard A Yarborough University of California, Los Angeles 2019 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract i Committee Page iii Acknowledgments v Vita viii Introduction 1 Chapter One - Fame and Forten 10 Chapter Two - Salem was the Spark 31 Chapter Three - From Student to Scholar 90 Chapter Four - The Fearful Crisis 141 Conclusion 190 Epilogue 192 Appendix I - Surviving Poems Written by Charlotte Forten 202 Appendix II - Authors and Books Read by Charlotte Forten 204 Appendix III - Periodicals, Anti-Slavery Papers, and Newspapers Mentioned + Anonymous anti-slavery papers/tracts not named 226 Appendix IV - Charlotte’s School Studies at Higginson Grammar School and the Salem Normal School 227 Bibliography 228 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I have been working toward writing the Acknowledgments for my dissertation since I entered the UCLA Department of History graduate program in 2006. Pulling back the lens, I have been working toward this moment for the past twenty years since I first enrolled in the only community college class at Santa Monica College that was open, and it was Art History. I transferred to UCLA as an undergraduate, graduated in the Spring of 2006, and entered the UCLA doctoral program in History that same year. It has been a long journey and a coveted destination. And yet, in the few moments I have left before filing and concluding this path for my Ph.D., I’m at a loss for words. From staffers to students to colleagues to professors to professionals to family and friends who have contributed to my growth as an academic and as a person, I am grateful. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the unwavering support and guidance of my advisor, Brenda E. Stevenson. I am still in awe that you took me on as one of your students, and I humbly stand on your shoulders with my research and writing on Charlotte Forten Grimké. I would also like to thank Stephen Aron for serving on my committee, as well as for the critical feedback to get this project to the finish line. In addition, William Worger and Richard Yarborough have been pillars of patience and I am honored to have worked with you both. Since my dissertation journey took longer than anticipated, I would also like to acknowledge Gary B. Nash for the encouragement and belief in me as a graduate student. Your scholarship and guidance have been invaluable to me. I also want to include Mark Q. Sawyer here, because he, too, was on my committee and contributed greatly to my growth as a scholar. He is greatly missed. My cohort and colleagues at UCLA who stuck by me during times of duress deserve special recognition. I especially want to acknowledge Brian R. Kovalesky, whose steadfast friendship and belief in me is immeasurable. My fondest memories in graduate school include Brian and I as co- vi presidents of the History Graduate Student Association, because those experiences were everything I had hoped for in a graduate program. Other supportive colleagues include J.P. DeGuzman, Rob Schraff, Selah Johnson, and Tiffany Gleason. Thank you. My sincerest thanks and gratitude to other members of the UCLA community, most especially Marian McKenna Olivas and Richard Olivas for never giving up on me and for taking care of me when I needed it the most. You are true friends. Thank you to the incredible co-workers at the National Center for History in the Schools for making me laugh all the time we worked together. Thank you also to Cara Adams, John Adams-Wilson, Charlie, and Dorian for feeding me, taking care of Guffman, and being such good and loving people. I also want to acknowledge the members of Gold Shield and the UCLA Alumni Scholarship program, including Pat and Russ Hardwick, Joan Mills, and Karen King. I will forever be honored to be a Gold Shield Scholar. I am also grateful for my family and friends - both past and present – who have stood by me throughout this long journey. Most especially, I want to thank my beloved grandmother, Dorothy Davis, and my beautiful mother, Kathryn Allen. My father, Roy Silver, who I wish could have seen me reach this goal, because he would have thought it was fabulous. My cousins, Vicki Silver, and Judy Dew, for continuing to show me unconditional family love. Thank you Laura Dew, Steven and Dahlia Stern, as well as my Uncle Jack White and Diane White. A special acknowledgment to my Fanny family, including the steadfast love of Jeannie Millington Adamian, June Millington, Alice De Buhr, and Ann Hackler. Other dear friends include Rose Casey, Debra Donnelly, Jonathan Forster, Karissa Noel, Jim Noonan, Esther Martin, Mare and Looie Mawcinitt, Carole Rubinstein-Mendel, Jerry Schmitz, Medria Swartz, and Gordon Wall. I would especially like to acknowledge Rich Furman, who literally and figuratively helped me complete this dissertation. Your coaching, insights, support, and commitment provided me the foundation to find my way academically as well as personally. When we first started working vii together, you said to me, “In order to find your voice, you have to finish this dissertation.” You were right. And I did. I am so thankful for you. Finally, I dedicate this dissertation to my animals, because there is nothing like the unconditional love of a pet to help you get through difficult times. Had it not been for my creatures, I may not have been able to persevere through graduate school. To Kippers, Satchmo, Guffman, and Half-Tail, I miss you deeply on a daily basis and thank you for everything. To my current group, Cayden, Kamala, Liberty Bell (a.k.a. Bitsy), and Adeline, I could not have made it to the finish line without your love and support. Here’s to the next chapter in our lives together! viii VITA Degrees Candidate of Philosophy, University of California, Los Angeles Master of Arts in History, University of California, Los Angeles Bachelor of Arts in History; minor in Art History, University of California, Los Angeles Associate Degree, Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, California Academic and Professional Employment Adjunct Faculty, Pitzer College, Claremont, California Adjunct Faculty, Scripps College, Claremont, California Adjunct Faculty, Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, California Teaching Associate, University of California, Los Angeles ix Thy chosen Queen, O champion of Truth, Should be th’ acknowledged sovereign of all; Her first commands should fire the heart of youth And graver age list heedful to her call.