Angelina weld grimkes rachel, as ironic response to topsy robin bernstein the turn of the twentieth century constituted, in the. She was named for her greataunt, the abolitionist angelina. Rachel also titled blessed are the barren is by turns charming and heartbreaking. Although angelina and sarah grimke have been regarded as equally gifted and involved abolitionists and nineteenthcentury womens rights advocates, this first biography of angelina clearly shows that she, indeed, was the outstanding leader, as her contemporaries recognized. Angelina weld grimkes rachel at the myrtilla miner normal school. Rachel loving is a funny and spirited seventeenyearold girl at the beginning of the story, distinguished by her love for children and her. This is the first attempt to use the stage for race propaganda. For the first production of the play the program read. Q rimkls rachel is a play that is frequently credited with his torical significance but which has. Loving discuss rachel s joy for life and her desire for children. They became quakers, and then became antislavery and womens rights speakers and activists in fact, they were the only white southern women known to be part of the abolitionist movement.
Angelina weld grimke was daughter if archibald grimke, nephew of the grimke. Directed by courtney harge produced by new brooklyn theatre. An epistle to the clergy of the southern states 1836 3. Lane rachel meets a woman and her daughter who are new in town because racial discrimination at the girls old school forced them to move. Slavery and the boston riot letter to william garrison in the liberator 1835 123. Her great aunts on her fathers side were southern white abolitionists. From the letters and other documents of the sisters, it is apparent that this was not the general family view, and the sisters confided in at least. Angelina grimke, appeal to the christian women of the. Angelina weld grimke was born into a legacy of advocacy for racial justice. She was an african american poet, playwright, and author of first staged play by an african american. A play in three acts angelina weld grimke snippet view 1969. Letters on the equality of the sexes, and the condition of woman 1837 31. Rachel by angelina weld grimke colloquy collective.
Angelina weld grimke was the daughter of archibald and sarah grimke in boston. A play in three acts by angelina weld grimke 1919 one of the plays i am reading for my graduate school comprehensive exams, this is a haunting play that still has me thinking. Angelina weld grimke, teacher and a first for the black. Her father was the son of a slave and her master, who also. What happens when the narcissist knows youve figured them out duration. In 1854 she and her sister established a large coeducational institute near perth amboy, n. Her play rachel, produced in 1916 and published in 1920, concerns a young woman who is so horrified by racism that she vows never to bring children into the world. An appeal to the christian women of the south 1836 126. The sisters late became advocates of womens rights after their antislavery efforts were criticized because their outspokenness violated traditional gender roles. Earlier, they had shocked their prominent south carolina slaveholding family by publicly aligning themselves with garrisonian abolitionism. Angelina weld grimkes poetry and use of nature essay. Angelina and sarah grimke were born into a large, southern, slaveholding family. Her play rachel was the first play by an africanamerican woman to be publicly staged when it premiered in 1916. Although the play is considered to be overly sentimental and was criticized for its defeatism, it was.
Her father archibald was the child of a south carolina slaveholder and a slave on his plantation. She overcame her natural reticence and the conventions of the time to speak in public for the causes she believed in. Grimke, angelina weld, 1880publication date c1920 publisher boston, the cornhill company collection. Born into a prominent charleston family in 1805, angelina grimke was led by her religious beliefs to oppose slavery and to leave the south in order to work in new england for the abolition of slavery and for womens rights. Weld, one of the leaders of the antislavery society. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Through the use of rhetorical techniques such as those known to contemporary feminists as elements of consciousness raising, grimke empowers herself and her women listeners through the act of speaking. But she is born into an africanamerican family in the early 20th century a world in which ignorance and violence prevail. They were, according to ceplairs essay, the first women of a slaveholding family to speak in favour of abolition. Rachel is a play that was written in 1916 by african american teacher, playwright and poet angelina weld grimke february 27, 1880 june 10, 1958. Angelina weld grimke 18801958 wrote poetry, short stories, and nonfiction as well as plays. The first fulllength antilynching play, rachel was first performed in 1919 in washington, d. While her family and neighbours find different ways to survive, rachels dreams of getting married and becoming a mother collide with the tragic events of her familys. Her father, the son of a slave, was a lawyer and the executive director of the naacp.
This play describes the ugliness of discrimination and. On slavery and abolitionism by sarah grimke, angelina. The play rachel by angelina grimke portrays the life of a colored family during the 1920s. Angelina weld grimkes rachel as ironic response to topsy. Angelina grimke was an american political activist, womens rights activist and supporter of the womens suffrage movement. Rachel, a play in three acts kindle edition by angelina weld grimke. A play in three acts gilder lehrman institute of american. Angelina followed in 1829 and also became a quaker. Grimke submitted the play to the drama committee of the national association for the advancement of colored people naacp. One of the biggest social problems of the american society during the 18th and 19th centuries was that of slavery. In 1835 angelina wrote a letter of approval to william lloyd garrison that he subsequently published in his abolitionist newspaper, the liberator.
Even though this forum page is mainly about theatrical plays that i have watched, this post will be about a play that i have read. An illustration of a computer application window wayback machine an illustration of an open book. On this date we recall the birth in 1880 of angelina weld grimke. Rachel, a play in three acts kindle edition by angelina weld. Grimke submitted the play to the drama committee of the national. Through the use of unpublished documentary sources and impressive. Angelina grimke biography childhood, life achievements. Abolitionistfeminist angelina grimkes pennsylvania hall address in 1838 is more than an important early feminist document.
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