Harriet E. Wilson – författare

First published in 1859, "Our Nig" is an autobiographical narrative that stands as one of the most important accounts of the life of a black woman in the antebellum North. In the story of Frado, a spirited black girl who is abused and overworked as the indentured servant to a New England family, Harriet E. Wilson tells a heartbreaking story about the resilience of the human spirit. This edition incorporates new research showing that Wilson was not only a pioneering African-American literary figure but also an entrepreneur in the black women's hair care market fifty years before Madame C.J. Walker's hair care empire made her the country's first woman millionaire.

With a New Preface, Introduction, and Notes by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.New Afterword by Barbara WhiteA fascinating fusion of two literary models of the nineteenth century, the sentimental novel and the slave narrative, Our Nig, apart from its historical significance, is a deeply ironic and highly readable work, tracing the trials and tribulations of Frado, a mulatto girl abandoned by her white mother after the death of the child''s black father, who grows up as an indentured servant to a white family in nineteenth-century Massachusetts.From the Trade Paperback edition.

The 1859 novel tracing the life of a mulatto foundling abused by a white family in 19th century New England.

Our Nig; or Sketches from the Life of a Free Black (1859) is an autobiographical novel by Harriet E. Wilson. Published anonymously, Our Nig; or Sketches from the Life of a Free Black is considered the first novel by an African American to be published in North America, having been rediscovered by Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in 1981. Based on Wilson’s own experience as a free black forced into indentured servitude in New Hampshire, the novel critiques the racism and indifference of white Northerners and abolitionists who claim to oppose slavery while upholding prejudice and injustice against African Americans.

Abandoned by her white mother following the death of her father, a free black man, Frado is raised as an indentured servant on the Bellmont farm. The Bellmonts, a middle-class family, initially believe Frado has been dropped off by her mother for the day, but when Mag fails to appear for several days, they realize the girl has been left in their care. Unwilling to raise her as one of their own, the Bellmonts immediately put her to work in their kitchen. Although she is treated kindly by their son Jack, Frado is frequently beaten by Mrs. Bellmont, who resents having the young mixed-race girl in her house and sees her work as an intrusion on her own housekeeping duties. Suffering under Mrs. Bellmont’s abuses, Frado longs to escape.

This edition of Harriet E. Wilson’s Our Nig; or Sketches from the Life of a Free Black is a classic of African American literature reimagined for modern readers.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

A landmark anthology of full-length works by Black American women writers of the 19th century including Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Harriet Jacobs, and Mary Weston Fordham-edited and with an introduction by C.S.R. Calloway.

Shadows Uplifted collects and celebrates the vibrant and diverse work of these often unsung Black female writers, meticulously preserving their words while making them newly accessible to modern readers of all genders and backgrounds.

Collected here for the first time in a single volume are three personal narratives:

Our Nig: Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, Harriet E. Wilson''s 1859 critical look at Black life in the northern states and long considered to be the first novel published by a Black American woman.Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, written by herself, Harriet Jacobs''s 1861 stark account of the journey she took to free herself and her children from enslaved life.Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House, Elizabeth Keckley''s 1868 autobiography detailing her life as a dressmaker for First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln.

"Let us continue to uplift such shadows in our history, allowing them their corporeal bodies, flesh, blood, and melanated skin. Let us continue to uplift Black women: supporting and honoring their stories, their art, and their existence." - C.S.R. Calloway

''Nuestra Negra, o esbozos de la vida de una negra libre en una mansión blanca de dos plantas en el Norte'' (1859), de Harriet E. Wilson, es considerada la primera novela escrita y publicada por una afroamericana en Estados Unidos. El relato se nutre de la novela sentimental, de la narrativa de esclavos y de la literatura de conversión religiosa. La historia de las tribulaciones de Frado –abandonada por su madre blanca y obligada a servir como criada en el hogar de una familia blanca en el Massachusetts de las primeras décadas del siglo XIX– constituye una síntesis de ficción y autobiografía. La obra subraya que los afroamericanos libres de los estados norteños, y en particular las mujeres de clase trabajadora, debían luchar, al igual que los esclavos del Sur, por conquistar la libertad frente a la opresión económica, el racismo y la hipocresía cristiana, practicados tanto en el Sur esclavista como en el Norte libre de preguerra.