{"id":1858,"date":"2018-04-29T00:12:41","date_gmt":"2018-04-29T00:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/mobilitymigration1855\/?page_id=1858"},"modified":"2025-04-13T14:32:24","modified_gmt":"2025-04-13T18:32:24","slug":"octavia-grimes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/black-mobility\/associated-women\/octavia-grimes\/","title":{"rendered":"Octavia Grimes"},"content":{"rendered":"

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THE FIGHT FOR BLACK MOBILITY: TRAVELING TO MID-CENTURY CONVENTIONS<\/h3>\n

OCTAVIA GRIMES<\/h1>\n

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Octavia Grimes was a community and church organizer and the wife of prominent clergyman, Leonard A. Grimes<\/a> of New Bedford, Massachusetts. She was mother to at least four children: Emma, John, Leonard, and Julia. The family\u2019s racial identity fluctuates in census records, where household members are sometimes listed as \u201cmulatto,\u201d Black, or white. The Grimes family lived in Leesburg, Virginia and Washington, D.C. before moving to New Bedford, MA in 1846.[note]Lee, Deborah A. \u201cLeonard A. Grimes.\u201d The Essence of a People II<\/em>. Friends of the Thomas Balch Library.[\/note]<\/p>\n

Although Octavia Grimes\u2019 geographical, political and personal history has been either lost or unrecorded, she is generally known to have been active in her husband\u2019s church, Twelfth Street Baptist Church in Massachusetts. Notably, she ran a contingent of the Colored Ladies Relief Association at Twelfth Street Baptist.[note]Black Abolitionist Papers,\u00a0<\/em>v. 5, p. 251-252n.[\/note] Her organization was one branch of the Contraband Relief Association. Similar women\u2019s auxiliaries included the Young Ladies\u2019 Contraband Relief Associations in Baltimore and Washington, and two auxiliaries in Boston. Octavia is among the wives of Black abolitionists, such as Sarah Martin[note]\u201cSarah Martin led a fugitive aid society.\u201d\u00a0Black Abolitionist Papers,\u00a0<\/em>v. 5, p. 251-252n.[\/note] (J. Stella Martin), who assisted or independently ran benevolence and literary societies.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.106″ custom_margin=”0px|0px|0px|0px” custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” inner_width=”auto” inner_max_width=”1080px” prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”||0px|” custom_margin=”||0px|” _builder_version=”3.0.106″ width=”80%” max_width=”1080px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding__hover=”|||” custom_padding=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Credits Header” _builder_version=”3.21.1″ custom_margin=”0px|0px|0px|0px” custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” text_orientation=”left”]<\/p>\n

Credits<\/h3>\n

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Written by Sarah Patterson, Black Literary History, Spring 2013, P. Gabrielle Foreman.<\/p>\n

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References<\/h3>\n

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THE FIGHT FOR BLACK MOBILITY: TRAVELING TO MID-CENTURY CONVENTIONS OCTAVIA GRIMES Octavia Grimes was a community and church organizer and the wife of prominent clergyman, Leonard A. Grimes of New Bedford, Massachusetts. She was mother to at least four children: Emma, John, Leonard, and Julia. 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