Archibald Grimké

Archibald Henry Grimké (August 17, 1849 – February 25, 1930) was an African-American lawyer, intellectual, journalist, diplomat and community leader in the 19th and early 20th centuries. He graduated from freedmen's schools, Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, and Harvard Law School, and served as American Consul to the Dominican Republic from 1894 to 1898. He was an activist for the rights of Black Americans, working in Boston and Washington, D.C. He was a national vice-president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), as well as president of its Washington, D.C. chapter.

Early life and education Grimké was born into slavery on his father's plantation near Charleston, South Carolina, in 1849. He directed that they "be treated as members of the family," but Montague never provided well for them.

Henry's sister Eliza, executrix of his will, brought the family to Charleston, but she did not aid them financially. Montague allowed Nancy and her children to live relatively freely for a time, with Nancy working as a laundress to sustain the family. In 1860, Montague claimed the boys as house servants after marrying.

After the American Civil War ended, the three Grimké boys attended a freedmen's school, which Gilbert Pillsbury, the brother of abolitionist Parker Pillsbury, and his wife had opened. The Pillsburys recognized Archibald's and Francis' talents and raised support to send them to the North. They studied at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, established for the education of African Americans.

Career Archibald Grimké lived and worked in the Hyde Park neighborhood of the Boston area for most of his career. Beginning in the 1880s, he began to get active in politics and speaking out about the rise of white supremacy following the end of Reconstruction in the South. From 1883 to 1885, he was editor of the Hub, a Republican newspaper for African-American readers. Archibald supported equal rights for blacks in the papers and public lectures, which were popular in the nineteenth century. He became increasingly active in politics and was chosen for the Republican Party's state convention in 1884. That year he was also appointed to the board of Westborough Insane Hospital, a state hospital. Archibald became involved in the women's rights movement, which his aunts had supported, and addressed it in the Hub. He was elected president of the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association. Believing that the Republicans were not doing enough, he left the party in 1886.

In the South, the situation for Blacks was deteriorating, and Archibald continued the struggle against racism, allying at times with other prominent leaders of the day. He had also become involved in Frederick Douglass' National Council of Colored People, a predecessor to the NAACP, which grappled with issues of education for blacks, especially in the South. Archibald disagreed with Booker T. Washington about emphasizing industrial and agricultural education for freedmen (the South still had a primarily agricultural economy). He believed there needed to be academic and higher education opportunities like he had.

In 1901, with several other men, he started The Guardian, a newspaper where they could express their views. He believed that capitalism, as practiced in the United States, could help freedmen who left agriculture to achieve independence and true freedom.

In 1907, he became involved with the Niagara Movement and later with the NAACP, both of which were founded by Du Bois. Men continued to struggle to find the best way to deal with racism and advance equal rights at a time when the lynching of black men in the South continued.

After his daughter graduated from college, Archibald became increasingly active as a leader in the NAACP, founded in 1909. First, he was active in Boston, writing letters protesting proposed federal legislation prohibiting interracial marriages. (The legislation was not passed.) In 1913, he was recruited by national leaders to become the president of the Washington, DC branch and moved to the capital with his daughter Angelina. His brother Francis and his wife Charlotte still lived there.

Grimké led the public protest in Washington, D.C., against the segregation of federal offices under President Woodrow Wilson, who acceded to the wishes of other Southerners in his cabinet. Grimké testified before Congress against it in 1914 but failed to gain changes. She and Sarah acknowledged the boys and their mother, Nancy Weston, as family and tried to provide them with better opportunities. They paid for their nephews' education: Archibald and Francis attended Harvard University and Howard University, respectively, for law. Francis shifted to Princeton Theological Seminary and became a minister. The Grimkés introduced the young men to their abolitionist circles.

Marriage and children After getting established with his law practice in Boston, Massachusetts, Grimké met and married Sarah Stanley, a white woman from the Midwest. In 1880, they had a daughter, Angelina Weld Grimké, named after Archibald's aunt.

In 1894, Grimké was appointed consul to the Dominican Republic. While he held this position, his daughter Angelina lived for years with his brother Francis and his wife Charlotte in Washington, D.C., where Francis was minister of the 15th Street Presbyterian Church.

After graduating from school, Angelina became a teacher and writer. Her essays and poetry were published by The Crisis of the NAACP. In 1916, she wrote the play Rachel, which addressed lynching, in response to a call by the NAACP for works to protest the controversial film The Birth of a Nation. It is one of the first plays by an African American considered part of the Harlem Renaissance. In addition, she wrote poetry, some of which is now considered the first lesbian work by an African American.

Published writings Books

Pamphlets and articles (most recent first)