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Baltimore, [No Date Recorded on Shelflist Card]. Source: Library of Congress<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n Frances Ellen Watkins Harper<\/b> developed her passion for learning, activism, and writing against the backdrop of Baltimore, Maryland, where she was born and had deep family roots. After Harper\u2019s parents died in 1828, she was raised by her maternal uncle, Reverend William Watkins and his wife, Henrietta (n\u00e9e Russell. Her father was Sharp Street Trustee Richard Russell). The Watkinses were a prominent free Black family who used their status to help educate young Black people and support emancipated and self-emancipated persons, while fighting for abolition of the still-enslaved.<\/span><\/p>\n William Watkins Sr<\/b>. was born in Baltimore in 1801, beginning his education in the Bethel Charity School, an institution founded by formerly enslaved writer and educator Daniel Coker at the Sharp Street Church. When Coker left for Liberia in 1820, Watkins took over his role as headmaster and minister at the church, and by the time he was 25, Watkins merged the Bethel Charity School with his own school, the Watkins Academy of Negro Youth. His school educated more than 50 free Black students per year\u2014an incredible feat, given that Maryland was still a slave state, in spite of Baltimore having the largest population of free Black people of any American city at the time.[1]<\/span><\/p>\n In the 1820s, Watkins Sr. married Henrietta Russell<\/strong>. Henrietta\u2019s father, Richard Russell, was a trustee of the Sharp Street Church like Watkins Sr.\u2019s father. It is likely that Henrietta Watkins and William Watkins Sr. grew up together. Henrietta was born and lived her whole life in Baltimore. Little is known about Henrietta or her background, other than the fact that she was born to a free family, and her father was a blacksmith. Henrietta Watkins raised Harper as her own.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As a child, Harper was steeped in a culture of Black activism. Her aunt and uncle had eight children, the oldest of which was <\/span>William Watkins Jr<\/b>., born only one year after Frances. The two were raised like siblings and attended Watkins\u2019 academy, where they developed a shared interest in continuing Watkins Sr.\u2019s activist work. Harper was educated at the school until she was thirteen years old. She chose to work outside the home, which was common for children of her age in the nineteenth century. Harper found work as a seamstress for a white family who owned a bookstore, where she spent much time continuing to develop her love of reading.[2]<\/span> While Harper began to lend her own passion and skills to the abolitionist movement, Watkins Jr. also continued his activism in various ways, joining the American Reform Society and speaking at the National Conventions of Free Colored People in Philadelphia in 1833 and New York in 1834. He also wrote articles for Black newspapers including <\/span>The Liberator <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>Freedom\u2019s Journal, <\/span><\/i>sometimes using the pseudonym \u201cA Colored Baltimorean.\u201d[3] He remained a staunch opponent of both slavery and colonization, disagreeing with his childhood mentor\u2019s emigration to Liberia.[4] Watkins eventually left Baltimore for Toronto in 1852, and opened a grocery store while continuing to write for Black newspapers, changing his pseudonym to \u201cThe Colored Canadian.\u201d Watkins died in 1858, but his influence on Harper is undoubtedly present in her continued work as an activist, educator, writer, and lecturer.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Click the buttons below to read more about the Watkins family.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” column_structure=”1_3,1_3,1_3″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” type=”1_3″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/harper\/early-life\/watkins-baltimore\/sydneywatkins\/” url_new_window=”on” button_text=”Sydney Watkins” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_button][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/harper\/early-life\/watkins-baltimore\/reverend-william-watkins\/” url_new_window=”on” button_text=”Reverend William Watkins” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” type=”1_3″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/harper\/early-life\/watkins-baltimore\/reverend-william-watkins\/” url_new_window=”on” button_text=”Henrietta Watkins” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_button][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/harper\/early-life\/watkins-baltimore\/williamjwatkins\/” url_new_window=”on” button_text=”William J. Watkins” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” type=”1_3″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text admin_label=”References and Credits” _builder_version=”4.27.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n [1] Ortner, Johanna. \u201cLost no More: Recovering Frances Ellen Watkins Harper\u2019s <\/span>Forest Leaves,\u201d<\/span><\/i> Summer 2015, https:\/\/commonplace.online\/article\/lost-no-more-recovering-frances-ellen-watkins-harpers-forest-leaves\/?print=print<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n [2] <\/span>Alexander, Kerri Lee. \u201cFrances Ellen Watkins Harper.\u201d National Women\u2019s History Museum. 2020. www.womenshistory.org\/education-resources\/biographies\/frances-ellen-watkins-harper<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\nThe Watkins Family<\/h2>\n
REFERENCES<\/span><\/h3>\n