Basic Information

Sarah Louisa Forten Purvis, born Sarah Louisa Forten, was an African American poet and activist born around 1814, though there is dispute over the precise date of her birth (Purvis, Sarah Forten (C. 1811–C. 1898), 2022). While typically her work was oriented around the issue of abolition, she pioneered the concept of intersectionality connecting the concepts of race and gender (African Sarah Forten Purvis, Poet Born, 2022; Gernes T.S., 1998, p. 229). 

Background Information

Born to a wealthy sailmaker, she lived a relatively privileged life compared to that of many other African American women of her day. Despite this privilege, neither she nor her family used this as an excuse for inaction (McNeil, 2018). She and her family set out to combat the oppression of both women and Black people in the United States. Finding her talents most suited to poetry, she became a prolific writer, incorporating both pro-abolitionist and intersectional messages (Sarah Forten Purvis, 2022; Gernes T.S., 1998, p. 229). She, her mother, and her sisters founded an organization which was dedicated not only to working towards abolition but also supported gender equality, and began operation in 1833. It made its name in raising money for abolitionist causes, providing supplies to runaway slaves, and running a school. She also was a member of the Female Literary Association (FLA). This organization was comprised of Black women and represented an early feminist group. The FLA was conceived in response to the marginalization of Black women’s voices particularly in abolitionist spaces (The Female Literary Association is Formed, 2022).

Contributions to the First Wave

The contributions that Forten Purvis made to the abolitionist movement are numerous. She, her mother, and her sisters were the founders of the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society (Sarah Forten Purvis, 2022). This society, though mainly focused on abolition, would also support feminist positions on gender equality (The Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, 2022). This society would make its name primarily through fundraising drives to combat slavery, as well as providing supplies to runaway slaves. 

Forten Purvis proved to be a prolific writer in abolitionist circles. Starting at age 17, she often wrote for the Liberator, which was a notable abolitionist paper. The work Forten Purvis was most known for was her poetry, often writing under the pseudonyms of “Magawisca” or “Ada.” She would produce such works as An Appeal to Women, The Grave of the Slave, The Slave Girl’s Address to Her Mother, and The Slave Girl’s Farewell; her poetry gained popularity in abolitionist circles and was widely distributed (Sarah Forten Purvis, 2022).

An Appeal to Woman is a call to action particularly directed at white women to end the practice of slavery. This poem utilizes words like “sister” in order to create a sense of kinship between the white women being called upon to act, and the Black women that are enslaved. It questions how one can be a good person without opposing the practice of slavery. Perhaps most poignantly, it asks when you are buried in the same ground as the slave, where will your soul go. This allusion to slaves and masters all ending up in the ground together would become a theme in some of Purvis’s work (Forten Purvis, 2021). 

The Grave of the Slave, though not as directly targeted as An Appeal to Women, is still a very effective piece. It orients its rhetoric around the idea that a slave only can truly be free of cruelty when they are dead. It is striking that the concept of death in the poem is framed very positively, as the slave when dead cannot be hurt by their master (Forten Purvis, 2021). This poem would eventually be put to music by Frank Johnson and would become an anthem of abolitionist groups (Sarah Forten Purvis, 2022).

The Slave Girl’s Address to Her Mother is about how God is on the side of the enslaved. The poem suggests that, in the end, God will guide the enslaved to liberation. This poem, unlike the others discussed here, makes no mention of death. However, it still asserts that God is on the side of the enslaved, much as in  The Grave of the Enslaved (Forten Purvis, The Slave Girl’s Address to Her Mother). 

The Slave Girl’s Farewell deviates in style from the other poems, but its message is equally heart-rending. This poem depicts the pain of a daughter being taken into slavery and separated from her mother in the process. Though this poem largely avoids religious imagery, it does end on the words “and midst thy tears, a blessing waft, to her who prays for thee.” (Forten Purvis, The Slave Girl’s Farewell)

These poems helped reveal to many the horrors of slavery and the antebellum social order. Their heartbreaking tone  helped garner sympathy for the plight of the enslaved. 

“The grave to the weary is welcomed and blest; And death, to the captive, is freedom and rest.”

~Forten Purvis, S.L. (1831)

Analysis and Conclusion

While the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society and the Female Literary Association did support feminist causes, Forten herself centered most of her work on abolition. Despite this, the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, founded and led by women, was groundbreaking, and would serve as a blueprint for later feminist-abolitionist work. Forten Purvis’s interweaving of topics like race and gender as exemplified by An Appeal to Women serve as examples of early intersectional modes of analysis (Sarah Forten Purvis, 2022; Gernes T.S., 1998, p. 229). These modes of analysis remain pertinent to this day in all sectors of social justice organizing. Despite this, Sarah Louisa Forten Purvis is not a household name. Often relegated to a footnote in her families’ storied history, her contributions are frequently overlooked, yet she was a true antecedent to intersectional thinkers and writers of recent decades.

References

Forten Purvis, S.L (1831). The Grave of the Slave. By Sarah Louisa Forten – Famous poems, famous poets. Retrieved November 13, 2022 from https://allpoetry.com/The-Grave-Of-The-Slave

Forten Purvis, S. L. (n.d.). The Slave Girl’s Address to Her Mother by Sarah Louisa Forten. by Sarah Louisa Forten – Famous poems, famous poets. Retrieved November 13, 2022, from https://allpoetry.com/The-Slave-Girl’s-Address-To-Her-Mother

Forten Purvis, S. L. (n.d.). The Slave Girl’s Farewell by Sarah Louisa Forten. by Sarah Louisa Forten – Famous poems, famous poets. Retrieved November 13, 2022, from https://allpoetry.com/The-Slave-Girl’s-Farewell

Gernes, T. S. (1998). Poetic Justice: Sarah Forten, Eliza Earle, and the paradox of intellectual property: Document View. The New England Quarterly, 71(2), 229.

McNeil, A. (2018, May 13). The importance of Sarah Forten’s abolitionist poetry. Black Perspectives. Retrieved November 13, 2022, from https://www.aaihs.org/the-importance-of-sarah-fortens-abolitionist-poetry/

Purvis, Sarah Forten (C. 1811–C. 1898). Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved November 13, 2022, from https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/purvis-sarah-forten-c-1811-c-1898

Sarah Forten Purvis, Poet Born. African American Registry. (2022, February 7). Retrieved November 13, 2022, from https://aaregistry.org/story/sarah-forten-purvis-poet-born/

Sarah Forten Purvis. (2021). Sarah Forten Purvis: 1814–1883. In Radicals, Volume 1 (p. 181–182). University of Iowa Press.

The Female Literary Association is Formed. African American Registry. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2022, from https://aaregistry.org/story/the-female-literary-association-is-formed/

The Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society is Founded. African American Registry. (2022, August 27). Retrieved November 13, 2022, from https://aaregistry.org/story/the-philadelphia-female-anti-slavery-society-founded/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

..