Mary Weston Fordham
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African-American poet and teacher
Life
Mary Weston Fordham was born in Charleston, South Carolina likely around the year 1862.[1] Her parents were Louise Bonneau and Rev. Samuel Weston.[2] Her parents and extended family were skilled laborers and land owners. She became a poet and an educator. She ran a school for African-American children during the Civil War. After the war, she worked as a teacher for the American Missionary Association. Her poetry indicates that she was the mother of six children, all of whom died.
Her collection Magnolia Leaves collected 66 poems that offers a presentation of African-American families following the American Civil War. The introduction to the book is written by Booker T. Washington, 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.
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