Charlotte Louise Bridges (Forten) Grimké (1837 - 1914)

Born 17 Aug 1837 in Philadelphia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, USA

Ancestors

Wife of Francis James Grimké — married Dec 1878 in United States

Died 23 Jul 1914 at age 76 in Washington, District of Columbia, United States

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Biography

Charlotte (Forten) Grimké is Notable.

Charlotte Louise Bridges Forten was born in 1837 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the child of Mary Woods and Robert Bridges Forten, granddaughter of abolitionist James Forten. Unfortunately, her mother passed away when she was only 3 years old. ^[1]

During the American Civil War, she met with Colonel Robert Gould Shaw of the famous 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry at a plantation-turned-freedmen's school in South Carolina, where he described her as "quite pretty, remarkably well-educated, and a very interesting woman [...] decidedly the belle here." ^[2]

Education

As a child, she was educated by her grandfather, James Forten the well-known abolitionist, and their home, due to the segregation of Philadelphia schools. ^[1]

As her father felt strongly that she should be educated within a non-segregated school setting, he sent her Massachusetts to be educated in 1853, to reside with the Remond family, also active in the abolitionist cause. Here, she attended Higginson Grammar School for Girls. Throughout this period, resided with Charles Lenox Remond, and his wife, Amy Matilda Remond, who were good friends of the family.^[1]

She completed her collegiate education at Salem State University. She graduated there as the university's first African American graduate.^[1]

Marriage

On Dec 19, 1878, she married Francis J Grinke, in District of Columbia, United States. ^[3]

Residences

1850 Warminster, Bucks, Pennsylvania^[4]

1880 Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, USA^[5]

1910 Precinct 8, Washington, District of Columbia^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} "Celebrating Charlotte," at Salem State University, <https://www.salemstate.edu/charlotte-forten> accessed Feb 10, 2022.
2. ↑ Duncan, Russell (ed.) Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. Letter from Robert Gould Shaw to his mother Sarah Shaw (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1999) p. 372.
3. ↑ "District of Columbia Marriages, 1830-1921", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F71D-MT1 : 11 January 2020), Charlotte L. Forten in entry for Francis J. Grinke, 1878.
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M44R-77V : 4 April 2020), Charlotte Forten in household of Robert Forten, Warminster, Bucks, Pennsylvania, United States; citing family 50, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6CQ-GJY : 11 August 2017), Charlotte L Grimke in household of Francis J Grimke, Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, United States; citing enumeration district ED 18, sheet 146B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,121.
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKLN-KD7 : accessed 13 August 2020), Charlotte F Grimke in household of Francis J Grimke, Precinct 8, Washington, District of Columbia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 145, sheet 2A, family 24, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 153; FHL microfilm 1,374,166.

• Breitborde, Mary-Lou. Remembering Massachusetts State Normal Schools: Pioneers in Teacher Education (Institute of Massachusetts Studies, Westfield State University, 577 Western Avenue, Westfield, Massachusetts, 2014) Pages 66-70
• Brown, William Wells. "The Black Man : his Antecedents, his Genius, and his Achievements" (1863), pp 190-199. Publishers: Thomas Hamilton (New York), R.F. Wallcut (Boston). Digitizing Sponser: Kahle/Austin Foundation. Online at The Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/blackmanhisantec0000brow/page/198/mode/2up?q=Forten: retrieved 26 Aug 2020).
• Grimké, Charlotte and Brenda Stevenson (ed.) Journal of Charlotte Forten Grimké. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
• Billington, Ray Allen. The journal of Charlotte Forten : a free Negro in the slave era, edited, with an introd. and notes. (New York : Norton, 1981), c1953.
• National Humanities Center. The Making of African American Identify: Vol. I 1500-1865. "Journal of Charlotte Forten, Free Woman of Color, Selections from 1854 to 1859."
• PBS: Charlotte Forten (1837-1914)
• University of Minnesota: Charlotte Forten Grimké
• WikiPedia: Charlotte Forten
• The Journal of Charlotte Forten []

https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/maai/identity/text3/charlottefortenjournal.pdf

Footnotes