Anthologies of African American Writing

Classic African American Women's Narratives

"Classic African American Women's Narratives" . Ed. William L. Andrews. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2003. xl+391 pp.

Religion and the pure principles of morality, the sure foundation on which we must build / Maria W. Stewart -- The life and religious experience of Jarena Lee, a coloured lady, giving an account of her call to preach the gospel / Jarena Lee -- Narrative of Sojourner Truth, a northern slave / Sojourner Truth -- "The two offers" / Frances Ellen Watkins Harper -- Our nig; or, sketches from the life of a free black, in a two-story white house, North / Harriet E. Wilson -- Incidents in the life of a slave girl / Harriet A. Jacobs -- "Life on the sea islands" / Charlotte L. Forten."The book reproduces in one volume the canon of African American women's fiction and autobiography during the slavery era in U.S. history. Each text in the volume represents a "first." Maria Stewart's Religion and the Pure Principles of Morality (1831) was the first political tract authored by an African American woman. Jarena Lee's Life and Religious Experience (1836) was the first African American woman's spiritual autobiography. The Narrative of Sojourner Truth (1850) was the first slave narrative to focus on the experience of a female slave in the United States. Frances E.W. Harper's "The Two Offers" (1859) was the first short story published by an African American woman. Harriet E. Wilson's Our Nig (1859) was the first novel written by an African American woman. Harriet Jacob's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) was the first autobiography authored by an African American woman. Charlotte Forten's "Life on the Sea Islands" (1864) was the first contribution by an African American woman to a major American literary magazine (the Atlantic Monthly)" (WorldCat).

A0372