The Emancipation of Angelina Grimké

by Katherine DuPre Lumpkin

Although Angelina and Sarah Grimke have been regarded as equally gifted and involved abolitionists and nineteenth-century women's rights advocates, this first biography of Angelina clearly shows that she, indeed, was the outstanding leader, as her contemporaries recognized. Through the use of unpublished documentary sources and impressive psychological insights, Lumpkin provides new perspectives on Angelina, her husband Theodore Weld, and her sister Sarah.Originally published 1974.A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

282 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Mary D · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve wanted to learn more about Angelina for several years and stumbled across this biography, published in 1974, in a used book store a couple of weeks ago. Although not particularly well-written, it is interesting and thoroughly foot-noted. The author extensively relied on and quotes from letters Angelina wrote in addition to other written information and an interview with Angelina Weld Grimké, who was Angelina’s grandniece and the only daughter of her nephew Archibald, son of her brother and his slave, Nancy Weston. AG was a remarkable woman, born and raised in Charleston SC, who became a passionate advocate for emancipation and later for women’s rights and suffrage. She was deeply religious and had a complicated relationship with her older sister Sarah and her husband Theodore Weld. It is disheartening that the era in which she lived and the issues about which she cared so deeply still resonate today in their 21st century forms.

[Melody Schwarting · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly good biography of Angelina Grimké, though somewhat lacking compared to Gerda Lerner's The Grimké Sisters from South Carolina: Pioneers for Women's Rights and Abolition. Lumpkin's biography has the virtues of being shorter and only looking at Angelina, while Lerner's is longer and concerns Sarah, too. Since Angelina and Sarah spent most of their lives in close proximity, the dual biography works well.

I do find the title to be somewhat of a misnomer. Lumpkin writes Angelina into an abolitionist (thus "emancipated" from the slave system that was native to her), and then back into the corner once she marries and ceases public life. Lumpkin fails to take Angelina's health problems seriously (a hernia and prolapsed uterus). She also did not examine the relationship between Theodore Dwight Weld and Angelina well enough. Lumpkin appropriates a term significant for those exiting slavery, and then biographically re-imprisons Angelina in her complex but fulfilling family life.

For these flaws, The Emancipation of Angelina Grimké is a good introductory text to this important figure in abolition and women's suffrage. Lumpkin looks more closely at Angelina's anti-prejudice rhetoric than Lerner. I'd recommend it for those who want to learn more about Angelina and 1830s activist culture in New England.

[Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those who are interested in a true hero of the women's movement, this book offers an instructive look at Angelina Grimke who with her sister struck the flame that enkindled the anti-slavery movement in the United States. As the face (and a beautiful face it was) of that movement, she worked with all the famous names of the period and brought the previously unheard position of former slave owner to her speeches. The daughter of a wealthy South Carolina planter, Angelina as the god-daughter of her sister Sarah, a brilliant but less forceful descendant of slave owners, struck at the heart of the "peculiar institution" by labeling it as immoral and against the teachings of the Bible. Her life shows us that people have choice in their lives. As well, the book follows this outstanding woman as she tries to have it all by marrying the love of her life and raising his children. She fails and loses much of her public sway just when the anti-slavery and women's movement needed her most. Her illnesses and dissatisfactions allow us to appreciate this very human star while appreciating how difficult a woman's role has always been in the US. Well written for a book of this amount of research, it should be mandatory reading in women's studies courses.