The third Hidden History Project focused on the life and impact of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper– noted poet, novelist, teacher, and mentor. Frances E.W. Harper is considered the “Mother of African American Journalism” and the most famous nineteenth century African American novelist. The week-long festival commemorated the 100th Anniversary of her death. This project was also a big step forward in the Hidden History project as a whole. The complementary newspaper release included the first detailed roadmap of the future Hidden History Projects and showed the scope of the project’s mission.
Festival Highlights
The third edition of Hidden History for 7 days from February 20th-27th, 2011. The festival included 12 different events held at various locations. Notable events included, a lecture by Charles L.Blockson at Temple University, a panel discussion Discarded Legacy: Politics and Poetics in the Life of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania featuring Lena Ampadu, Melba Joyce Boyd, and Sonia Sanchez
Charles Blockson
Lena Ampadu
Melba Joyce Boyd
Sonia Sanchez
The program’s signature panel discussion occurred at Drexel University and featuring historians Frances Smith Foster. Other events and exhibits were held at The First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia, Moonstone Arts Center, School district of Philadelphia auditorium, the National Constitution Center, African American Museum in Philadelphia, Mother Bethel AME Church, and Eden Cemetery.
Frances Smith Foster
The newspaper that Moonstone Press released alongside the festival provided the itinerary for the event. The newspaper also showcased some of Frances E.W. Harper poetry, giving the audience insight into her literary talent along with a detailed roadmap of the future planned Hidden History Projects
Festival Impact
The City Council of Philadelphia passed resolution #110085 officially designated the week of February 20, 2011 as “Frances Harper Week”. The Resolution was presented to the Fatah family along side a commissioned portrait of Frances E.W. Harper during the opening event of the Festival on February 20, 2011 at the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia.
The Life of Frances E.W Harper
Francis E.W. Harper was born a free citizen in Baltimore, Maryland on September 24, 1825. When she was 3, she was orphaned and relocated to live with her Aunt Henrietta and Uncle William J. Watkins. The Walkins themselves were prominent civil rights activists in Baltimore. This abolitionist environment became the cornerstone of her work to come.
She published her first poetry collection called Forest Leaves when she was 20, but it was only discovered in 2015 due to it being published under her maiden name Frances Ellen Watkins. When she was 25 Frances E.W. Harper became the first female teacher at Union Seminary in Columbus, Ohio.
Over the course of her life, she frequently wrote poems and short stories for abolitionist magazines and newspapers. In total, she has published 80 poems and 13 books including novels, short story collections, and poem collections. She was the first African American to publish a short story and one of the first African Americans to publish a novel. Much of her work revolved around the collective need for social reformation, specifically about her society’s hostility towards people of color and women.
In her poem, Song for the People, she wrote, “Our world, so worn and weary, needs music, pure and strong, to hush the jangle and discords of sorrow, pain, and wrong. Music to soothe all its sorrow, till war and crime shall cease; and the hearts of men grown tender girdle the world with peace.” Frances E.W. Harper passed away in 1911 at the age of 86 but her voice, advocating for social justice and equality through remains today.