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Discarded Legacy Politics and Poetics in the Life of Frances E. W. Harper, 1825-1911 Melba Joyce Boyd

Frances E. W. Harper was a prolific champion of the abolitionist movement and feminist causes in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Recognized as part of the "free colored community," Harper was a lecturer, educator, poet, essayist, and novelist. Yet neither her art nor her political insight was preserved by subsequent generations until the most recent resurgence of the women's movement. In Discarded Legacy, however, Melba Joyce Boyd, herself a poet, approaches Harper not simply as a feminist, but also as a writer. She utilizes poetry as a prism through which she refracts Harper's life, and likewise refracts her own vision of Harper's vision. In effect, this book reflects on the impact of Harper's legacy upon another artist/activist, which is proportionately how a legacy works. In essence, she has written a "bio-critical study," a very personal account of a poet representing and presenting a poet. In doing so, she finally gives Harper's life the recognition it deserves.

"Boyd is excellent in addressing a formal critique of Mrs. Harper's work . . . an authentic study, perhaps the best we yet have of the writer."—Maryemma Graham Northeastern University

African American Life Series $44.95s cloth / ISBN 0-8143-2488-6 $18.95s paper / ISBN 0-8143-2489-4 262 pages 1994