Frances E. W. Harper
September 24, 1825 – February 22, 1911
he year 2025 marks the 200th anniversary of Frances Ellen Watkins’s birth. The Center for Black Digital Research/#DigBlk is hosting #Harper200, a slate of exciting scholarly and arts programming and community events to commemorate Watkins’s life and legacy. Events include:
- A nationwide Read-a-thon January–April, 2025. Check it out!
- A major Frances E.W. Harper digital exhibit for teaching and research
- K-12 and college curricula
- An academic symposium to be held Sept. 19–21, 2025 at Penn State University
- An original performance of dance, poetry, and music with events held in the places she lived and worked. Debuting Sept. 20 at PSU’s Center for the Performing Arts
- Transcribe Harper, featuring Harper’s papers, starting on her 200th birthday, Sept. 25th
- An exciting special issue of new poetry in conversation with Harper’s poetry, life, and legacy with poetry workshops in schools, community centers, and beyond
Stay tuned for updates throughout the year.
Have a Frances E. W. Harper event to add to our Harper events page? Let us know at digblk@psu.edu.
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911) was an antislavery activist, suffragist, educator, writer, poet, and lecturer. She is most known for her seminal text, Iola Leroy, but she was also a frequent contributor to African American newspapers, where she published many of her poems and short stories. Harper was heavily involved in women’s rights organizations and helped found the National Association of Colored Women (NACW), serving as vice president in its first year.
Read more about Frances E. W. Harper at the Black Women’s Organizing Archive.
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