Forten, Charlotte
From Salem Links and Lore
- Charlotte Forten (Aug. 17,1837- July 23,1914) was born in Philadelphia and arrived in Salem 1854.
- She lived with the prominent Remond Family and attended Salem's Normal School (now Salem State College), becoming the first African American to graduate, in 1856. She began her teaching career at the Epes Grammar School in Salem. In her spare time, Charlotte wrote poetry and kept a journal, now owned by Phillips Library at Peabody Essex Museum. In 1864, Charlotte returned to Philadelphia and spent the next twelve years writing and publishing poems and essays, but also returned to teaching. In 1878 she married Francis Grimke.
- Salem State University recently opened the Charlotte Forten Legacy Room, honoring Salem State’s earliest African American Charlotte Forten.
See Also
- Vertical File in Salem Collection - Black History
- Vertical File in Salem Collection- Forten, Chalotte
- Salem women's heritage trail by Bonnie Hurd Smith, p. 44-45
- Charlotte Forten Salem Women's Heritage Trail website
- I, Charlotte Forten, Black and Free Polly Longsworth
- Hidden History of Salem by S. Saville, p.67-70
- Charlotte Forten site by Jen Ratliff
- "Full Circle: abolitionist Charlotte Forten Grimke returns to Salem" Salem Evening News, Feb. 14,2002 p. B1 (reenactment by performer Valarie Boyer)
