page_title: Frances Harper
section_title: Life and works
hierarchical_section_title: Frances Harper / Life and works
caption_attribution_description: English: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
context_page_description: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was an abolitionist, suffragist, poet, teacher, public speaker, and writer. She was one of the first African American women to be published in the United States.
  Born free in Baltimore, Maryland, she had a long and prolific career, publishing her first book of poetry at the age of 20. At 67, she published her novel Iola Leroy, which was widely praised.
  As a young woman in 1850, she taught sewing at Union Seminary in Columbus, Ohio, a school affiliated with the AME Church. In 1851, alongside William Still, chairman of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, she helped refugee slaves make their way along the Underground Railroad on their way to Canada. In 1853 she began her career as a public speaker and political activist after joining the American Anti-Slavery Society.
  Her collection Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects became her biggest commercial success. Her short story "Two Offers" was published in the Anglo-African in 1859, making literary history as the first short story published by a black woman.
  Harper founded, supported, and held high office in several national progressive organizations.
caption: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
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