Mary Weston Fordham (1843-1905) was an African-American poet and schoolteacher.[1]
Life[]
Little is known of Fordham. She may have been born in Charleston, South Carolina.[2] Her parents were Louise (Bonneau) and Rev. Samuel Weston.[3] Her parents and extended family were skilled laborers and land owners.
She ran her own school for African-American children during the Civil War. After the war, in 1865, she was hired as a teacher by the American Missionary Association. She taught during Reconstruction at the Saxon School in Charleston.[4]
Her poetry indicates that she was the mother of 6 children, all of whom died before her.[3]
Writing[]
Her collection Magnolia Leaves collected 66 poems[2] that offers a snapshot of the conditions of African-American families following the American Civil War. The introduction to the book is written by Booker T. Washington,[2] in which he reflects on his concerns for African-American families.
In tone and subject, Fordham's poetry matches that of white female poets of the period: sentimentality, moral virtues, and explorations of death, motherhood, patriotism, and Christianity.[3] The Poetry Foundation remarks that: "Her poems display an ease with meter and rhyme in lyrical explorations of historical, spiritual, and domestic themes."[1]
Publications[]
Poetry[]
- Magnolia Leaves: Poems (with introduction by Booker T. Washington). Tuskegee, AL: Tuskegee Institute, 1897; New York: AMS Press, 1973.
Anthologized[]
- Collected Black Women's Poetry: Volume II (edited by Joan R. Sherman & Henry Louis Gates). New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
- Nineteenth-Century American Women Writers: An anthology (edited by Karen L. Kilcup). Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1997.
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[5]
See also[]
Poetry Out Loud 2016 Stephan Alfaro (Round 2)
References[]
- "Mary Weston Fordham", African American National Biography (edited by Eric Gardner, Henry Louis Gates Jr.; & Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham). Oxford, UK: African American Studies Center
- "Mary Weston Fordham", Notable Black American Women (edited by Sandra Y. Goven & Jessie Carney Smith). 1996.
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mary Weston Fordham 1843-1905, Poetry Foundation. Web, Sep. 29, 2016.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Tonya Bolden, "Mary Weston Fordham," African American Women of the Nineteenth Century, Digital Schomburg, New York Public Library. Web, Sep. 29, 2016.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Mary Weston Fordham," African-American Poetry of the Nineteenth Century: an Anthology (edited by Joan R. Sherman). Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1992, 441. Print.
- ↑ Mary Weston Fordham 1843-1905, Poetry out Loud. Web, Sep. 29, 2016.
- ↑ Search results = au:Mary Weston Fordham, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Sep. 29, 2016.
External links[]
- Poems
- "October"
- "Serenade" at Poetry out Loud
- Mary Weston Fordham 1843-1905 at the Poetry Foundation
- Mary Weston Fordham at Poetry Nook (60 poems)
- Mary Weston Fordham at PoemHunter (65 poems)
- Books
- Mary Weston Fordham at Amazon.com
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