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When Rev. Francis J. Grimké (1850-1937) and Charlotte Louise Bridges Forten (1837-1914) were married on December 19, 1878, he was 28 and she was 41 years old. Lottie (as she was known) was already a published translator, writer and poet, and had worked as a teacher, and as a volunteer nurse in the War. Born into a prominent free, abolitionist African-American family, Lottie was outspoken in her convictions that slavery was morally wrong. She would go on to co-found the National Association for Colored Women. Among her many and varied life experiences, one that especially stands out is her role as a teacher in the Sea Islands of South Carolina, a project known to history as the Port Royal Experiment.
Following the November 7, 1861 Battle of Port Royal, Union forces took control of the Sea Islands. Refugee slaves — termed “contraband” by the U.S. government — were encouraged to assemble here (as was done in a few other locations) to prove their ability to own and manage land, to grow and sell cotton and thereby contribute revenue to the government, and in general to show that they could be self-sufficient. With encouragement from poet and abolitionist John Greenleaf Whittier, she served under the auspices of the Port Royal Relief Association as a teacher of freed slaves from 1862 to 1864.
She was a well-educated woman from the North who taught former slaves, many of whom had little to no knowledge of basic reading and writing, and thus she experienced many challenges and difficulties. But she wrote in a letter published by William Lloyd Garrison, editor of The Liberator, that her first Thanksgiving on St. Helena Island, South Carolina was “the happiest and most jubilant Thanksgiving Day of my life.” She wrote additional letters describing the situation amongst the freed slaves on the Sea Islands, including a vivid account of New Year’s Day, 1863, the day upon which the Emancipation Proclamation took effect in Confederate states and territory occupied by federal forces. A more lengthy account of her experiences was published by The Atlantic Monthly in a two-part article that appeared in May and June 1864 under the title Life on the Sea Islands. It is striking how many hymns sung by the freedmen Lottie takes note of in these writings. It is also said that the the African-American spiritual “Michael Row the Boat Ashore” originated on St. Helena Island during this period.
Her summation of the experience reflects the hope and optimism gained from seeing hard-working, free people realizing their dreams.
Daily the long-oppressed people of these islands are demonstrating their capacity for improvement in learning and labor. What they have accomplished in one short year exceeds our utmost expectations. Still the sky is dark; but through the darkness we can discern a brighter future. We cannot but feel that the day of final and entire deliverance, so long and often so hopelessly prayed for, has at length begun to dawn upon this much-enduring race. An old freedman said to me one day, “De Lord make me suffer long time, Miss. ‘Peared like we nebber was gwine to git troo. But now we’s free. He brings us all out right at las’.” In their darkest hours they have clung to Him, and we know He will not forsake them.
“The poor among men shall rejoice,
For the terrible one is brought to nought.”While writing these pages I am once more nearing Port Royal. The Fortunate Isles of Freedom are before me. I shall again tread the flower-skirted wood-paths of St. Helena, and the sombre pines and bearded oaks shall whisper in the sea-wind their grave welcome. I shall dwell again among “mine own people.” I shall gather my scholars about me, and see smiles of greeting break over their dusk faces. My heart sings a song of thanksgiving, at the thought that even I am permitted to do something for a long-abused race, and aid in promoting a higher, holier, and happier life on the Sea Islands.
As a teacher, Lottie was a blessing to many who were finally able to learn in ways that had longed to do, and in turn, her heart’s desire to help those in need was granted. It was a noble experiment which bore a happy and pleasant fruit. As long as she lived, she continued to serve. Read more about and by Charlotte F. Grimké at Log College Press, and get to know this servant of the King who helped the freed slaves among the Sea Islands.
