Harriet Wilson (group 1)

Harriet Wilson (group 1)

This artifact takes place in 1861 during the time of the Civil War. It was an article written about freed and slaved blacks who were captured and placed in a jail in Washington; they had made up charges and no trials. Harriet Wilson was one of the prisoners captured and stored away in jail until the war was over where then they would be returned to their owners as slaves, whether they were free or not. Her nickname was Hattie Adams, and she was born March 15, 1825 in Milford, New Hampshire. Her father was Black and her mother was Irish. When she was young, her father passed away, and her mother abandoned her at a farm shortly after. As an orphan, she was made an indentured servant as an exchange for a place to live, food, water, and an education. In 1861, she had married Thomas Wilson who had soon abandoned her after, pregnant and ill. She gave birth to her son, George Wilson, in 1862, which was also the same year Thomas had reappeared into their lives and moved them from the farm. Thomas Wilson died shortly after, causing Harriet to send her son back to the care of the farm. She worked in Boston as a dressmaker to earn money and regain custody of our son. She had many jobs over the years, but eventually she turned to writing as a way to earn money for her and her son. She wrote her first book “Our Nig”, which was published in 1859. Harriet Wilson became the first African American woman to publish a novel in the United States.

Frank Leslie's Weekly

December 28, 1861

Tamara Dujmovic

Gardner, Carla. "Wilson, Harriet E. Adams." Wilson, Harriet E. Adams (c. 1828-?) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed. N.p., 2015. Web. 04 Dec. 2015.

image/jpeg

https://digitalgallery.bgsu.edu/student/items/show/10333