Charlotte Forten

Children's Literature - Judy Silverman

Peter Burchard has brought life to the era and to this neglected woman. For an African-American, and a woman, to become a well-known teacher in a United States that was drifting towards the Civil War was truly an amazing accomplishment. Burchard uses Charlotte's diaries, letters, and other writings to paint a fascinating portrait of this remarkable woman.

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-In 1853, 16-year-old Charlotte Forten began keeping a diary, recording events of her life and her observations of the civil rights struggles of African Americans. Her journals and letters offer a 30-year personal perspective. Forten was born into a prosperous African American, Philadelphia family headed by her influential grandfather, abolitionist James Forten. In 1862, she sailed to Port Royal, South Carolina, to teach the children of contrabands living on the Union-held Sea Islands. Plagued by ``lung fever,'' Forten returned North and eventually settled in Washington, D.C., where she taught, wrote essays and poetry, and married Reverend Francis Grimke. She continued to be an outspoken supporter and activist for the rights of African Americans. Readers will experience history firsthand as Forten recounts her anxiety over fugitive slave Anthony Burns; her excitement when celebrating Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation; and her grief over the death of a close friend and heroic leader of the famed 54th Massachusetts Volunteers. A well-documented, effective mix of primary sources and historic information, this biography adds an appealing personality to the gallery of African American portraits.-Gerry Larson, Durham Magnet Center, Durham, NC