CHAPTER XLVI.
MRS. CHARLOTTE FORTEN GRIMKEE.
The subject of this sketch was born in Philadelphia, of which city her grandfather, James Forten, was an old and well-known resident. As the facilities for educating colored children were at that time very poor in the city of her birth, she was taught privately for some time by an aunt, and then sent to Salem, Mass., where she attended the grammar school, and was afterwards admitted into the normal school, in which she was the only colored pupil. She was treated with great courtesy and kindness by teachers and pupils, and was appointed by her class to write the poem for one of the graduation exercises. Just before graduating she was, greatly to her surprise, offered a position as assistant teacher in one of the public schools in which there happened to be not a single colored pupil. After her graduation she took the position with many misgivings, for she knew that Salem, although far in advance of Philadelphia at the time as to liberality, yet was not entirely free from prejudice against color, and she feared also that some of the pupils might be insulting or rebellious, especially as the school contained some very unruly members—large boys who worked in the country during the summer months and came to school in winter determined to get as much "fun" out of it as possible. Some of these were larger than herself, hence there was some room for fear in case of conflict.
But very soon she had the satisfaction of seeing these riotous spirits, like raging billows, calm down, and never did she hear a disrespectful word or the slightest allusion made to her color. Her relation to the pupils was a very pleasant one, and after teaching there for some time it was with much regret that she was obliged to resign the position on account of extreme ill health brought on by the severity of the New England climate, and return to Philadelphia. When she had, after a long period of invalidism, regained her health, she returned to Salem, where she had a position in the school which she had first attended. The principal, one of the finest teachers and noblest women she had ever known, was her dearest friend. The position in this school, in which there were only girls, was an extremely pleasant one, but after teaching there some months she was again attacked by severe illness and obliged on her partial recovery to return to Philadelphia on account of the milder climate. During her residence in Salem she had written articles for the Anti-Slavery Standard and other papers, at the same time indulging very earnest youthful hopes that she might become an authoress. During the war she was sent, with a friend, by the Freedmen's Aid Society in Philadelphia, to teach the freedmen at Port Royal, on the coast of South Carolina.
They were located on St. Helena Island. She spent several years there and found the work most interesting. While there she held correspondence with Mr. White and his sister, with whom she had spent many happy hours during her school-days. It was at a suggestion by Mr. White that she published some articles on their life among the freedmen in the Atlantic Monthly, for which she was liberally remunerated.
On her return North she went to Boston, where she was engaged for several years in the work of the New England Freedmen's Aid Society. Here she enjoyed her correspondence with the freedmen's teachers, although suffering much from ill health. She was, however, able to do some literary work, translating some novels for Messrs. Scribner & Co, and also short stories for Scribner’s Magazine. She also wrote articles for the Boston Cormnonwealth and other papers.
Upon the breaking up of the Freedmen's Aid Society she went to Charleston, S. C, and taught school for one year, after which she returned to the North and remained in ill health for a long time. Upon improving in health she again attempted to teach in Washington, D. C, but after a short while she was thoroughly convinced that teaching was too great a taxation upon her strength. She resigned and took a clerkship in the Treasury department. While thus engaged she again wrote articles and verses for the papers, the Christian Register, of Boston, especially. In 1878 she was married to Rev. Francis J. Grimkee, pastor of the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church, of Washington, D. C. After a service of nearly eight years here Rev. Grimkee resigned on account of poor health, and accepted a call to the Presbyterian church in Jacksonville, Fla. He remained there (she with him) for about three years, and being much improved in health he accepted an urgent recall to his former charge in Washington, D. C., where he still resides. Her life in the District has not been an eventful one, much of her time being spent in church work, and therefore she has not done as much literary work as she had hoped to do. She sometimes tries to find some consolation in the thought that possibly this is why her long-cherished dreams of becoming an authoress have never been fully realized. Few Afro-American women have been more useful than Mrs. Grimkee.
She was faithful to the race when faithful friends were few and much needed. She came to the front in those dark days when it tried every nerve to the uttermost for one to be an aggressive defender of the rights of an oppressed people. Mr. G. W. Williams, the historian, says of her:
She comes of one of the best colored families of the State. * * *
She proved to be a student of more than usual application. * * *
She wrote both prose and poetry, and did admirably in each.