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Charlotte Forten

by Jen Ratliff on 2022-02-16T08:39:00-05:00 | 0 Comments
 

Charlotte Forten, class of 1856, was Salem State's first African American graduate. Originally from Philadelphia, Charlotte moved to Salem in 1853 to attend the city's integrated schools. She graduated from the Higginson School and entered the Salem Normal School (Now Salem State) in 1855. In 1856, she was chosen to write the valedictory poem for her graduating class. It was met with great acclaim and published in the Salem Register.

The powerful poem depicts the horrors of slavery: 

"They boast of freedom in this land of ours; 
Yet every breeze that comes from Southern bow'rs, 
Laden with the rich fragrance of bright flow'rs. 
Brings us the captive's cry of deep despair, 
His bitter moan, his agonizing prayer. 
This beautiful South-land - is freedom there? 
Is perfect freedom here - in our own North?"
(Read More)

Forten went on to teach at the Epes School in Salem, becoming the first African American teacher in the Salem public school system. In 1862, Charlotte traveled to the South to teach the formerly enslaved on the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina.

The Atlantic Monthly later published her writings about the experience in an article entitled “Life on the Sea Islands.” Her diary, which includes material about her life in Salem, was published in 1953 and remains in print.

Learn More: www.salemstate.edu/charlotte-forten

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Digitized Archives
Charlotte Forten Photographs and Ephemera
Order of Exercises at the Second Semi-Annual Examination of the State Normal School
Order of Exercises at the Fourth Semi-Annual Examination of the State Normal School
Order of Exercises at the Third Semi-Annual Examination of the State Normal School


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