Lift Up Thy Voice: The Sarah and Angelina Grimké Family’s Journey from Slaveholders to Civil Rights Leaders

by Mark Perry

In the late 1820s Sarah and Angelina Grimké traded their elite position as daughters of a prominent white slaveholding family in Charleston, South Carolina, for a life dedicated to abolitionism and advocacy of women's rights in the North. After the Civil War, discovering that their late brother had had children with one of his slaves, the Grimké sisters helped to educate their nephews and gave them the means to start a new life in postbellum America. The nephews, Archibald and Francis, went on to become well-known African American activists in the burgeoning civil rights movement and the founding of the NAACP. Spanning 150 eventful years, this is an inspiring tale of a remarkable family that transformed itself and America.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Social Justice, Civil War, Education, Race

432 pages, Paperback

First published October 29, 2001

About the author

Mark^Perry. From Wikipedia:

Mark Perry (1950 – 8 August 2021) was an American author specializing in military, intelligence, and foreign affairs analysis.[1][2]

He authored nine books: Four Stars,[3] Eclipse: The Last Days of the CIA,[4] A Fire In Zion: Inside the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process,[5] Conceived in Liberty,[6] Lift Up Thy Voice,[7] Grant and Twain,[8] Partners In Command,[9] Talking To Terrorists,[10] and The Most Dangerous Man in America: The Making of Douglas MacArthur.[11]

Perry’s articles have been featured in a number of publications including The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, Newsday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Christian Science Monitor, and The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio).

Background
Perry was a graduate of Northwestern Military and Naval Academy and of Boston University.

Career
Perry was the former co-Director of the Washington, D.C., London, and Beirut-based Conflicts Forum,[12] which specializes in engaging with Islamist movements in the Levant in dialogue with the West. Perry served as co-Director for over five years. A detailed five-part series on this experience was published by the Asia Times in March and in July 2006.[13] Perry served as an unofficial advisor to PLO Chairman and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat from 1989 to 2004.[14][15]

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Mark Perry: author of Grant and Twain: The Story of an American Friendship

Mark^^Perry: author of War of Darkness (Role Aids/Advanced Dungeons and Dragons)

Mark^^^Perry: author of A Dress for Mona

Mark^^^^Perry: author of Dead Ringers: The Television Series

Mark^^^^^Perry: Illustrator

Mark^^^^^^Perry: author of The Climb: First Steps

Reviews

[Nan Sprester · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Invention of Wings introduced me to the Grimke sisters. Finding myself interested in not only their lives but also in the lives of their nephews who were born into slavery but went on to become leaders in their communities, I read this book to find out more about them but I learned so much more. From the abolitionist movement to the plight of the emancipated slaves to the forming of the NAACP, Mark Perry has written a compelling book about not just the Grimke sisters but about 150 years in the struggle of African-Americans to take their rightful place in society. An eye-opening read.

[Meganators · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting - especially when paired with The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd.

[Barbara Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned so much from this book! I highly recommend it!

[Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really incredible book. It’s part biography, part history book, first about the Grimke sisters Sarah and Angelina, who were from a prominent slaveholding family in Charleston and became some of the most well known abolitionist and early women’s right activists. The latter part of the book is about their nephews, Archibald and Frances, Black sons of slaveholder Henry Grimke, who were leading civil rights activists in the post Reconstruction era. Their stories were actually the most fascinating, probably because that aspect of US history was not something I learned or if I did, learned in a very different way. The debates between Booker T Washington and WEB Dubois are portrayed a certain way in mainstream historical narratives, but this book - because the Grimke brothers were very much a part of that history - gave so much dynamism and complexity to that period of history.

The added bonus is that Francis Grimke was a cornerstone of Washington DC history, which I also did not know.

The book is incredibly well written. Very engaging

All this being said, it seems too good to be true? I have a used copy because this book is not easy to find. Is there something I’m missing about this book? Something inaccurate? I will do some research and update this if needed. But overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book and learned a ton.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarah and Angelina Grimke led remarkable lives, and it is a shame they have been so much obscured by history. Whereas names such as Henry Ward Beecher and William Lloyd Garrison are (deservedly) well-known in the abolitionist movement, Sarah and Angelina's roles seem to have been forgotten. Because they were women? Perhaps. But this book more than does justice to their legacy.

They were born into a wealthy, slave-holding family in Charleston, raised from childhood to be waited on hand and foot, and yet both turned away from that life and became vocal abolitionists in the North. There is a touching story of Sarah running away to the docks aged four, after witnessing a slave being beaten, begging a sea captain to take her away from a place where such brutality occurred. They wrote and lectured and organised and were heavily involved in the early days of abolitionism, when such notions were still radical and unpopular and meeting-halls where they spoke would be attacked by mobs and burned to the ground. Indeed, Sarah and Angelina went further than many abolitionists, arguing not only for the immediate emancipation of the slaves, but true equality as well, arguing that slavery was not about racial differences, since both slaves and slave-holders were all Americans, but was simply the most pernicious manifestation of, as they called it, 'color prejudice'. They were also involved with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in the burgeoning women's rights movement, equating the physical bonds of the slave with the psychological and spiritual bonds that held women in their place.

Late in life, after the Civil War, they were introduced to their nephews, the sons of their brother Henry by a slave women he owned. Sarah and Angelina accepted these boys into their family and did all they could for them, encouraging them in their education and further careers as a lawyer and minister. Archibald and Francis Grimke took up the banner of equality, becoming active members of the burgeoning black political movements and eventual founder members of the NAACP.

I found the book flagged in these later chapters, becoming too much bogged down in the political wrangling between Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois and others, and it lost much of the narrative flow from the first half. But that small gripe aside, this was an excellent read, truly shining a light on some neglected figures from the early days of abolitionism and the Civil Rights movement.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frustrating at times and utterly mesmerizing at others, but I found myself speeding through it waiting for discussions of the activism of two generations of Grimkés. When those sections came, they were vivid and inspiring, literally breathtaking at times. My frustration is simply that they made up too small a percentage of the book (really only two short sections), and that too much time was spend on peripheral issues and relationships. It was fascinating to read about Sarah Grimké's almost accidental feminism, and about the movement for African-American rights in the early 20th century in which Archibald and Francis Grimké played major roles, I just wanted a lot more of it. Four start for the quality of the research and the power of those two sections; without them, my rating would have been lower.

[Joan Porte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent history of a southern family dedicated to freedom of slaves. Unfortunately, they have been relegated to footnotes of American history but their influence was profound.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like many other readers, I became interested in the Grimke family because of Sue Monk Kidd's 'The Invention of Wings'. I did consider not finishing this about half way through, but I am glad to have kept reading. I enjoyed learning about the lives and accomplishments of Archibald and Francis Grimke.

I started reading this book last year, when life was a lot different. Finishing it during the during racial climate in the United States gave the book a different perspective. Sad to know that so many things have not changed, 100+ years later.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of the United States. Our history is so much more that the wars and presidents that seem to make up the majority what we are taught about in our school system.

[Nora]

completely seperate from the book itself, this has a few errors (there might be more idk); p. 114 it says that angelina's letter to william lloyd garrison was published in the august 30th edition, but it was actually published in the september 19th edition (https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn840315...) and in the bibliography it also says that that letter was published in 1824, but it was in fact published in 1835. so yeah, beware i guess.

[Jeff Macey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that needed to be written and needs to be read! I heard about the Grimke sisters from The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kid and had to google them to be sure they were real. Obviously the south has rewritten American history and done everything to bury the sister's amazing story and especially of their nephews. This book should be part of American school reading!

[Patrice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the most compelling read, but full of historical and important cultural information. I am glad I read it.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quotable:
If belief in God required a belief in slavery, as slavery’s advocates implied, then the whippings and beatings that she saw from time to time were not simply something that Christians could tolerate; they were the will of God. Sarah, ever precocious, continued her daily devotions, spent hours each Sunday morning at Saint Philip’s, taught Sunday school to black slave children each Sunday afternoon, and returned home to wonder how she could possibly balance the central tenet of her religion’s message, to “love others,” with its revealed truth, that bondage was an unchangeable condition sanctioned by a loving and just God.

Difficult though it is to believe now, the idea that women could change society was then viewed not merely as novel or odd, but as revolutionary, even scandalous. The idea struck at the heart of the nation, at its foundation, and at those who ruled it.

[A]t the end of 1836…few Americans really gave slavery any thought, and fewer still were inclined to lend their voices (or empty their pockets) on behalf of the movement. There had, however, been one notable victory: in the two years since the founding of the AAS (American Anti-Slavery Society), slavery had become a national issue, an accepted part of the nation’s political discourse. In this, the abolitionists had best been served by their enemies. Enraged by the abolitionists’ program and threatened by their attempts to win the public over to their views, Southerners commonly portrayed the antislavery activists as “incendiaries,” “instigators,” “fanatical crusaders,” and “cold-hearted, base and malignant libelers and calumniators.” They were in fact none of those things, but the more the Southerners said they were, the more other Northerners began to doubt it; and the more those Northerners listened to the arguments of the abolitionists, the more sense they made. If Southerners did not build the abolitionist movement, they certainly played a major role in bringing its message before the public.

Simply by summoning the courage to appear and speak in public on the issue[s], Sarah and Angelina Grimke had established a foundation for the feminist revolution to follow. Both movements – the crusade to free the slave and the campaign to win full rights for women – reverberate into the present. That we are aware of these issues, that we recognize the need to fight continually for race and gender equality, that we choose to give a voice to those who do not have one – all of these things are directly attributable to the sisters’ work. We look back at the nineteenth century and see Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and Robert E. Lee. Those men were giants. But other giants stood with them, men and women who were in every sense as great or as good and as committed to their cause. They walk with us now not simply because of the work they did but because in the way in which they did it.

If emancipation meant anything, Frank [Grimke] believed, it was that every man had the right to choose his own social relations – even the leader of black America [Frederick Douglass]. Grimke’s only quibble with Douglass, expressed many years later, was that he should anticipated that such a marriage would invite controversy: “Why he decided in his second marriage, to select a white woman as his help mate was a matter which concerned him only,” Francis would confide in his diary. “If he wanted to marry a white woman and she wanted to marry him, it was a matter between them only. It was nobody else’s business. The intermarriage of the races may not be a wise thing, in this country, in view of the present conditions, but the right to marry if they want is inherited, God-given. No one may rightfully forbid it.”

“If the Republican party cannot stand a demand for justice and fair play, it ought to go down.” –Frederick Douglass at The National Convention of Colored Men, Louisville, KY 1883.

[Catherine Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Giving a better understanding of the struggles for equality and a family who took part in it all, whose names virtually no young Americans are aware of, makes this book so
Important. There is so much left out of our telling of American history, an ignorance fostered by history textbooks which should be thrown away..

[Patti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned more about the 1800s in America, the lives of women at that time, the abolitionist movement and the people who were part of that, how political change occurred during that time, and more, than I ever thought I might ever know. While some might find parts of this dry, I found the book fascinating; I like history. Here's what the back cover says about the book: In the late 1820s, Sarah and Angelina Grimke traded their elite position as daughters of a prominent white slaveholding family in Charleston, South Carolina, for a life dedicated to abolitionism and advocacy of women's rights in the North. After the Civil War, discovering that their late brother had had children with one of his slaves, the Grimke sisters helped to educate their nephews and gave them the means to start a new life. The nephews, Archibald and Francis, went on to become well-known African American activists who were involved in the burgeoning civil rights movement and the founding of the NAACP. Spanning 150 eventful years, this is an inspiring tale of a remarkable family that transformed itself and America.
I agree.

[Julie Biles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first met the slave-holding Grimke family last summer when I read "The Invention of Wings." Fascinated by the abolitionist sisters, Sarah and Angelina, I went on "The Grimke Sisters Tour" in Charleston, SC. This only whet my appetite to learn more about this fascinating family. Here enters Mark Perry's "Lift up Thy Voice" and the biographical narrative of Archibald and Francis Grimke, the sister's black nephews.
Though this read took me months to complete because it read somewhat like a textbook, I enjoyed it immensely.
The following Mark Perry quote is found in his Author's Notes.
"What does the history of the Grimke family tell us about ourselves? I believe it demonstrates that racial prejudice remains the central fact of the American experience...Moreover in recounting the Grimkes' history, we recount the history of this nation in its purest form; through the experiences of Sarah, Angelina, Archibald and Francis, we view the experience of all Americans over a period of 150 years."
This challenging read is enlightening and inspiring. My thinking on the devastating effects of American slavery and racial prejudice have been greatly heightened.

[Lisasimon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has an engaging premise - it traces the abolitionist and suffrage activism of the Grimke sisters (Angelina and Sarah) through the activist and anti-racist work of their nephews (Archibald and Francis). The timeline goes from early 19th century into the 20th century and the story is amazing, especially for those of us who have minimal sense of the activists and abolitionists and suffrage fighters who preceded and deeply influenced people like Harriet Beecher Stowe and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Equally important, the writing is phenomenal. Perry does such strong work in drawing from a range of resources (primary and secondary) to create the characters of the four people he is spotlighting. Their struggles and their decisions as well as their actions make what could be an unbelievably dry book really engaging. I hesitated to start reading it because the cover was so unengaging but when I began it I didn't stop until the last page (even then I didn't want to stop and kept reading all the way to the index).

[David Longo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Perry has written a very solid book about Sarah and Angelina Grimke, abolitionists both, as well as of their nephews, early era black rights activists cut much in the same mold as W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington. In fact, they were right in the middle of the angst between these differing negro activist camps at the turn of the 19th century. It's a remarkable family---and tale---really. Still, I found myself more interested in the up righteous sisters than in their "surprise" nephews who were unfairly born into slavery. As a result, I think "Lift Up Thy Voice" starts a good deal better than it ends. About 2/3rds of the book revolves around the Grimke sisters---deservedly so---but because of this the last third feels a bit forced at times, almost like a college disertation that one just wants to get through. This is no knock on Mark Perry. He does a very good job indeed on a somewhat ignored subject. Yet I did feel myself longing for my next book to read for those last 70 or 80 pages of his 342 page book. Four stars out of five seems right to me.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this after having finished Sue Monk Kidd's "The Invention of Wings". I appreciated the Grimke sisters far more from this history. That young two women would leave their family in Charleston and go north because of their conviction of the evils of slavery is amazing. And rare. This history also includes the impact of their black nephews in the rights movement following emancipation. Perry is not as engaging a writer as say, David McCullough, but still plenty readable for someone interested in the topic.

[Becky Loader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sarah and Angelina Grimke were very forward women for their time. Raised in a slaveholding family, they were intelligent and firm in their beliefs. Their relentless pursuit of finding an organized religion that fit their needs was staggering. When their minds turned to abolition, the same type of drive took over. Pretty amazing reading.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book. I'm so glad it covered the next generation of activist Grimkés. The story of the Grimke sisters was amazing but the continuation of the family saga to include Archobald and Francis Grimké really gave this book more power and relevance. I had not been was aware as I needed to be about the schism in the Black community over Booker T. Washington.....

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book begins during the age of slavery, and chronicles the lives of abolitionists Sarah and Angelina Grimke. After the emancipation of slaves, the focus is on equal rights. At this time, the focus is on the Grimke brothers, Archibald and Francis. These two men are sons of an interracial arrangement between Henry Grimke and his mistress slave, Nancy Weston.

[Kijani Mlima · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing family of activists. from the Grimke sister Sarah and Angelina, former slaveholder from the "landed gentry" of South Carolina. To their mixed race nephews, enslaved by their white father's son. They escaped from their half-brother and owner, to the north, and also became renown one as an activist and the other as a minister..

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting enough for my biography project. They had a busy life so it wasn't completely boring. I liked how their family tree spread all throughout the abolitionist movement. Even though it focused on the 2 sisters, they're entire family was intertwined throughout the book

[Melinda Todaro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wordy

[Janine Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book "The Invention of Wings", by Sue Monk Kidd, told the story of early abolitionists and feminists Angelina and Sarah Grimke in a fictionalized format. One of the sources used by Kidd was this book, which is especially fascinating after having read the fictional version. But this book goes beyond the lives of the two sisters, and tells of their discovery that their brother Henry had fathered three children with Nancy Weston, a slave. Henry died while his children with Nancy were very young, and Henry willed them to his legitimate son, Montague, saying they should be treated as family. But Montague made them his own slaves, and sold one of them because he was too difficult to control. One of them ran away and hid until Charleston was under control of the Union Army. Archibald and Francis Grimke eventually were educated up North, one becoming a minister and the other a lawyer. They were major players in the fight for equal rights and the formation of the NAACP. This book describes the tensions between Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois, caused by the fact that Washington was willing to accept a second-class citizenship for black people, advising them to learn trades and be respectful of whites; whereas Du Bois wanted nothing less than full equality, a position shared by the Grimke brothers. This was the same position that Angelina and Sarah Grimke had advocated years before, a position that many white people found impossible to accept. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is not already familiar with the history of the fight for equal rights for all Americans regardless of race or sex, a fight that continues today.