History-Maker Frances Ellen Watkins Harper: Writer of Justice, Truth, and Liberation
Before there was Toni Morrison and Zora Neale Hurston, there was Frances Ellen Watkins Harper—a poet, abolitionist, suffragist—who in 1892 made literary history with the publication of Iola Leroy, one of the first novels published by an African American woman. But this was more than just a novel—it was a powerful refutation of the lies that had long been used to justify slavery. With her pen, Harper dismantled the myth that faith was something bestowed upon enslaved Africans by their oppressors. Instead, she affirmed that their faith was already deeply rooted—sustained not by the slaveholder’s distorted gospel, but by an abiding trust in a God who liberates.
A Faith Not Born in Chains
For centuries, one of the most enduring justifications for slavery was the claim that it introduced Christianity to Africans, bringing salvation to a so-called “Dark Continent.” But this is a lie. Long before European colonizers set foot on African soil, Christianity—and more broadly, faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—had already taken root among African peoples. The historical record confirms thriving Christian communities in Ethiopia, Nubia, and Egypt, dating back as early as the first century.
When enslaved Africans were torn from their homeland, they did not arrive spiritually empty. They carried with them a faith that was older than their oppressors’ empires, a faith that could not be stripped away by chains or whips. And though enslavers tried to twist scripture into a tool of subjugation, the faith of the enslaved anchored them despite the distortion. They found themselves in the stories of Moses and the Exodus, of Daniel in the lion’s den, of Jesus who suffered yet overcame. They held onto a faith that did not bind them but sustained them.
Frances Harper’s Rebuttal to the Slaveholder’s Gospel
In Iola Leroy, Harper makes this truth plain. One of the novel’s most powerful moments comes when Marie Leroy, Iola’s mother, firmly rejects the idea that her faith was something handed down by those who enslaved her people:
“My dear child, I have not learned my Christianity from them [slave owners]. I have learned it at the foot of the cross, and from this book,” she said, placing a New Testament in Iola’s hands. “Some of the most beautiful lessons of faith and trust I have ever learned were from among our lowly people in their humble cabins.”
This passage is a direct rebuke to the notion that the enslaved owed their spiritual formation to their captors. Instead, Harper points to the real source of faith: the enduring wisdom, resilience, and spiritual insight of the enslaved themselves. In the hidden hush harbors of the plantation, in whispered prayers beneath the night sky, and in the coded lyrics of spirituals, their faith persevered.
Harper’s Call to Action: Faith and Justice Must Walk Together
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was not just a novelist—she was a poet, abolitionist, and suffragist who stood on the front lines of justice. She worked alongside Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth, using her voice to demand equity and liberation. Her writings called America higher, challenging both racial injustice and the hypocrisy of those who claimed Christianity while denying the humanity of Black people.
Harper’s life and work remind us that faith and justice must walk together. The faith of those held in bondage did not teach them to accept oppression—it taught them to resist it. It gave them the strength to fight for freedom, to believe in a better future, and to pass down a spiritual legacy that still lives on today.
A Faith That Endures
As we reflect on Harper’s legacy, let us remember this: the faith of Black folk in America has never been secondhand. It was not a gift from the oppressor. It has always been our own—a faith that survives, that liberates, that sees beyond the chains of injustice into the promise of God’s unfailing love.
As we celebrate Women's History Month, let Frances Ellen Watkins Harper be among the names we lift up. A literary ancestor, a prophetic voice, a woman of faith and fire. May we, like her, continue to write, speak, and stand for truth.
Further Reading & Reflection
Iola Leroy by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
A Brighter Coming Day: A Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Reader by Frances Smith Foster
Complete Poems of Frances E.W. Harper, edited by Maryemma Graham (1988)
Bound for the Promised Land: African American Religion and the Great Migration by Milton C. Sernett
How does the true history of African Christianity challenge the way we think about faith and liberation today?