Bettiola Heloise Fortson

Bettiola Heloise Fortson (December 29, 1890 – April 13, 1917) was an African-American poet, essayist, activist and suffragist. Fortson was one of the first African-American people in the Midwestern United States to write and publish a book.

Biography Bettiola Heloise Fortson was born December 29, 1890, in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, to Mattie Arnold and James Fortson. In order to raise money for the publishing of her book, she was offered to publish her poems in The Broad Ax, a weekly African-American newspaper in Chicago.

Death Fortson died from tuberculosis at her home 3413 Prairie Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, on April 13, 1917, at the age of 26. Her eulogy was read by Ida B. Wells. Fortson was buried at the Mount Forest Cemetery in Thornton, Illinois, which was primarily an African-American cemetery.